Breaking Point
by squeekness
Summary: Tempers flare as tensions mount on the Lucky Dragon. They're ready to rumble as Kimble finally takes on Logan. Part six of my Kimble series.
1. Chapter 1

Summary : Tempers flare as tensions mount on the Lucky Dragon. They're ready to rumble as Kimble finally takes on Logan. Part six of my Kimble series.

Notes : Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations.

AU but only because I chose to change a few things in my dear friends' histories for simplification, nothing drastic so please forgive. I wrote this for a friend who didn't read the comics so there is a bit of back history and explanation on who everyone is and what their powers are. I've been working on this story for years so I do ask that you don't use any of my non-Marvel universe characters without my permission. I love my Siskans as I do my children.

Art for The Clan and Endgame has been added to my website if anyone is curious enough to take a peek. See my profile for the link. SQ.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(One)

Day three

Miles away from Earth, a tiny space vessel was drifting lifelessly in the black emptiness of space. Most of its passengers were awake, doing their best to amuse themselves in their desperation. Fallen lay dozing on the floor of her lav, resting under the watchful eye of her daughter, Maylee. Logan and Remy picked at breakfast, eating as a means to pass the time. The Clansmen were planning their escape, vowing they would regain control of the Lucky Dragon by any means at their disposal. Henry was in the shower and Kimble lay on the floor of the engine room, fast asleep.

Kimble and Beast had spent the bulk of the last eight hours working on the damaged engines, hoping to finish the worst of the repairs so that Fallen, in her weakened state, could manage to power them home. The damage to the engines had been pretty substantial, more than Kimble had first thought, but nothing a little enthusiasm and some help from Beast couldn't fix. Fallen's Ristle levels were being constantly monitored and her levels were rising, but she would still need more time. The question was, would fate grant them that time or would this present tranquility prove fleeting?

Kimble was dreaming, his hands and furry, pawed feet twitching as his mind saw only images that threatened to break his mind. He saw himself running through the vast confines of the ship's computer system, being chased by a man from Hell. He stumbled into the circle of light of the Black Room and collapsed to his knees, exhausted from running. Mirror Face was always just a step behind him and it seemed as though he would never escape. Kimble had come to the Black Room hoping to find safety, but he could already tell it was a wasted effort, even now he could hear the beast howling in the distance. Kimble put his head down and bawled, overcome with fear and hopelessness. His creator had never designed him to take this kind of stress and these dreams were wearing him down. He sobbed for a moment and then looked up when Seth approached him from out of the black.

"Oh, thank th' spirits!" Kimble cried, wiping his tears away. "Ya gots ta help me, Seth. He's there. He's always there now!"

Seth looked down on him and slowly shook his head, his eyes full of contempt and disapproval. "Why didn't you tell me you were Zander, Kimble? Here I am telling everyone that you're okay, when you're hiding things from me."

Kimble hadn't expected such an unfriendly response from his brother and he didn't know what to say. He began to stammer lame excuses, "I wuzn't hidin' nuthin'! It ain't real! It ain't the truth!"

"You're a liar, Kimble. You're not my brother," Seth turned and walked away back into the black, his head down with sadness and regret.

"No! Wait!" Kimble started to rise and follow, but he wasn't alone.

"Just where did you think you're going, freak?"

Kimble turned to see Valentin come into the circle of light behind him and he cowered in fear. Yesterday Kimble had asked Seth to take the password safeties off of the Black Room so anyone could enter. He had done that in the hopes that maybe Fallen could go there again and not be booted out. He could see now that had been a mistake. Here there were no security screens to protect him, he was now defenseless. He raised his fists in a pitiful attempt to intimidate the big man.

Valentin towered over him, uninjured in this vision and standing tall and powerful. He poured down his derisive laughter on the terrified Siskan, his words full of arrogance and malice. "Put your head down, little boy. You can't fight me and you know it. All you know how to do is run your mouth off."

Kimble submissively put his head down as he groveled before the stronger man, but muttered, "It ain't always gonna be like this, you'll see. The X-men're gonna bring me to their place and I'll be a hero just like thems. They'll teach me how ta fights and then I'm gonner kick yer ass!"

"I wouldn't count on that, punk," Wolverine growled, coming into the light.

Kimble gasped in surprise. Valentin had faded away and Logan now stood in his place. The feral X-man looked down where Kimble cowered and sneered down at him with all of his hate and non-acceptance. "You got a problem, boy. You'd best learn to accept where yer at. You ain't never gonna be good enough fer us. Fallen an' Seth'll do just fine, but not you. Not you. You ain't nuthin' but a stupid little child with all of yer fussin' and fightin'. The only thing yer gonna learn is what the four walls of a holding cell look like ---- from the inside!"

"Remy'll help me! He likes me!"

"He ain't gonna do nuthin'. He'll keep in line and do what he's told. He's an X-man first. Accept it. Yer on yer own, boy."

Kimble lay down and sobbed, losing all hope.

"I'll helps ya, kid. Don't you worry."

Kimble looked up as Zander finally stepped into the light. The light glittered off of his shattered mirror face, robbing him of all expression except for the conviction in his voice. He held Valentin's long broadsword in his hands as he spoke, raising it up and into the light. Instead of threatening to kill Kimble as he usually did, he offered him the blade with this advice, "This is whatcha need, Kimble. It's alla yer rage an' power. Use it. You ain't got no idea what's inside a ya --- an' neither do they. This is all ya needs ta find out. Takes it. Feel yer power. Kill Valentin an' they'll see. They'll see how powerful you kin be an' then they'll finally respects ya they way ya deserves."

"No! Yer full of shit! You ain't nuthin' but a monster! You always try ta kills me!"

"Aw, don't be takin' all that personal, kid. I wuz just fuckin' with ya," Zander cackled, shrugging his well muscled shoulders as if his terrorizing Kimble had meant nothing.

"It wasn't funny!" Kimble bawled, tears streaming from his eyes. He wasn't sure what was more terrifying, Zander chasing him or Zander trying to be friends. "Go away!"

Zander snorted with impatience. "Look at ya, down on yer fuckin' knees like some stupid little crybaby. Yer so much more an' all ya does is waste it. Siskans didn't accept ya, neither did them Clan bastards. What makes ya think them X-feebs're gonna have ya, huh? Why even try, they ain't nuthin but a buncha stupid assholes what're never gonna love ya the way ya deserve. They don't thinks yer even real. To them, you ain't nuthin' but property, boy. No say and no rights. An' fer that they deserves ta be punished!"

Kimble trembled at those words. _Punished_, Zander had said. Something about the way he said it made it almost sound appealing. It would be so easy to give into his hate and rage, to surrender to the growing madness inside of him.

"You kin do it, you know," Zander said, continuing with his wicked persuasions. "You done it before and you kin do it again. Punish them! Punish them all!"

Kimble shivered in revulsion. He saw flashes of violence, of blood covered swords and the cries of dying men. "Go away! I ain't no killer!"

"Oh, yes you are. You 'n me, we're the same."

"Never!" Kimble screamed and found his feet. He was running again. He came from the darkness back to the ship like some kind of bizarre magic trick and now he was running down the hall towards the shop. Zander was right behind him, gravelly laughter trickling out of his mouth as he thrilled to the chase. Kimble gasped in agonized futility as the hallway stretched out endlessly in front of him. There would be no escape.

He heard as Zander tossed Valentin's sword from behind him. It made a chopping helicopter sound as it spun on it's way towards him.

"Ya fergot sumpthin'!" Zander cackled just before the sword caught up with Kimble, running him through from behind. Kimble screamed and fell.

---------------

Kimble snapped awake with a jerk, barely feeling the hard floor beneath him. There was that strange pinching sensation in his head again as he twitched but it went away quickly. He dabbed at his nose, expecting it to bleed, the pinch had felt just like that, but there was nothing. The spasm passed and he dismissed it as just simple stress. After a dream like that who could blame him? He rose up numbly on his hands and knees, still gasping as he fought the urge to keep running, his dream had been so vivid and real. He saw he was safe now though, he was in the Engine Room surrounded by engine parts. He was still here on the ship and he remembered now that he and Beast had spent most of the night working in here on the repairs. He must have fallen asleep on the floor.

A sob escaped him and he rubbed his aching stomach. It hurt so bad now. He thought for sure he had screamed as he'd woken, but no one came running. Either that, or like Zander had said, no one had cared. Kimble shambled drunkenly to his feet, his head swimming in a fear induced fog. He needed a charge and some water. He had to get back to Fallen.

He staggered out of the Engine Room, not bothering to shut the security door behind him. He shuffled down the hall to the stairs and didn't even notice Beast as he came freshly showered out of the downstairs lavatory.

Henry had been working just as hard as Kimble. Less than an hour ago, he had watched as Kimble nodded off and slowly tipped over onto the floor. Knowing Kimble was exhausted, Beast let him go. He had slipped away himself a few minutes later, wanting to take a shower to refresh himself. It appeared that Kimble hadn't slept long or peacefully. The Siskan looked trashed. Henry greeted him as he shuffled by, but he didn't reply.

Henry watched him go by, puzzled by the Siskan's lack of response. He could tell Kimble had just woken up, he was rumpled and glassy eyed, and figured that maybe Kimble wasn't much of a morning person. Beast shrugged and went into the Engine Room to work some more on the engines, figuring the more they accomplished now, the sooner they could get home. He walked over to where Kimble had been working and gasped in surprise.

Beast had only just left Kimble where he was sleeping, but nothing was as he had left it. All of the parts that Kimble had been working on before he fell asleep had now been pushed away from the work area in a perfect circle. This wasn't Kimble being neat. Some of the pieces had fallen over in disarray. What Beast was looking at was a telekinetic blast pattern. A very mild blast to be sure, but a blast nonetheless.

Beast touched the floor in the center of the circle and wasn't surprised to find it still slightly warm from Kimble lying there asleep. He shook his head and muttered to himself, "What are you dreaming, Kimble?"

He followed Kimble upstairs, but didn't find him in the galley. He did see Logan and Remy sitting there, having breakfast. "You know, I think Kimble may be telekinetic," he said as he sat next to them. "I was just checking his progress in the Engine Room. He'd just woken up and walked right past me like a zombie. I could see where he'd been sleeping and he had all the parts pushed away from him in a perfect circle. I don't think he even knew he'd done it."

"Telekinetic blast pattern?" Logan repeated, not the least bit surprised. He already suspected Kimble's emerging new ability.

"Weak, but yes. You don't sound too surprised."

"Yesterday when he was dreamin' in the shop, he was givin' off very small telekinetic waves."

"You didn't mention it," Henry replied, just a slight edge to his voice. This was something he would have wanted to know. Not that he considered Kimble a threat, it was the doctor in him. He didn't like secrets.

"You didn't give me a chance," Logan growled back defensively, a bit of righteous indignation in his tone. "You were too busy backin' him up 'stead of me."

"That's not fair. You had him backed into a corner!"

"Why would Kim even be telekinetic?" Remy interjected, wanting to avoid an argument. He wasn't sure how to take what he was hearing. "It don't make no sense. He just a 'gram."

Henry gave voice to something he had been mulling over in his mind. "I think it's possible that more than Kimble's power sources got altered in the overload. Kimble's Mistress is telekinetic and now she's powering him directly. It's possible that some of her abilities might have transferred to him in the surge. Seth himself admitted that Kimble no longer scanned as a normal hologram."

Remy nodded, trying to digest that. It sounded a little implausible, but he didn't know that much about these things as Henry did. "You t'ink Kimble knows?"

"I don't know," Henry replied. "What I am certain of is that he is still disturbed and sleeping poorly. He passed me by like I wasn't even there. He didn't look well."

"If he cracks up, what are we gonna do about it?" Logan asked, desiring a plan. He didn't care about the why of this, only what could be done about it. "He can phase. We can't lock him up. We've got no way of restrainin' him."

"Why you so eager ta lock 'im up?" Remy asked impatiently in Kimble's defense. He was sick of Logan's poor attitude. Sure Kimble was a little stressed out, but he didn't think it was anything they couldn't handle.

"Where have ya been, Cajun? He's gone fer Vally twice and scared the bejesus out of little May. Hello!"

"Vally's been askin' for it since de firs' day we got 'ere, furball. And de kid? Well, I don' know 'bout you, but if I was bein' accused of wantin' to kill my brother, I'd be a little pissed off, too."

Logan cooled a little without giving up his position. "Look, Gumbo. I understand ya like him. I know ya well enough to see why. He's a bright shiny new toy and I'm sure he's a real hit at parties, but ya gotta face facts here, boy. He's crackin' up. When that kid pops, we gotta be ready ta deal with it."

"Kim ain't no toy," Gambit snapped defensively.

It was Henry's turn to interrupt. "If he can phase and he's telekinetic, we've got no real way of controlling him, not here. The best thing is to keep him calm and as far away from Valentin as possible. We probably should keep him away from you as well, Logan. Clearly the two of you dislike each other."

"Yeah, well, it ain't no picnic being cooped up in this tin can like this. I don't know what's worse, waitin' fer Kimble to crack or us runnin' outta air if Fallen doesn't get back on her feet on time."

"She'll be fine," Henry insisted. "If her scans are correct -- and I think they are -- we should be up and running tomorrow or the day after. Until then, I'm asking you to stay out of Kimble's way."

"I'll leave him be so long as he doesn't give me any excuse ta butt in," Wolverine countered, not really budging. He felt it was his duty to look after his teammates, psycho 'gram or not. He was about to say something else, but Maylee had smelled Remy's cooking and was shuffling into the galley, rubbing her eyes. She smiled at them and at Remy in particular, he'd made breakfast again so she wouldn't have to.

Remy got up and made her a plate, trying to keep his frustration down. On one hand, he appreciated Logan's concern for their well being, but on the other, he believed Logan was well on his way to causing the very break in Kimble he was trying to prevent.


	2. Chapter 2

(Two)

Kimble made his way to the cage, still disoriented and upset from his dream. Fallen wasn't on the bed so he went into her bathroom. He found her there, nestled comfortably asleep on the floor in a tangle of blankets. She'd taken to sleeping in here now for the privacy. He went to the sink and turned on the faucet. He greedily cupped water to his mouth with his hands and drank heavily, unmindful of the mess he made. It tasted sweet and wonderful and he felt refreshed. He splashed some more over his face and wiped away the fog that had clouded him. He dried off and grabbed a cigarette from the glass jar. When Fallen finally woke from his noise, he'd composed himself well enough that she couldn't tell he'd been wrecked when he'd come up from below.

She rolled over and looked up at him smiling. "Good morrow," she whispered.

"Good morrow."

He came over and crouched down next to her, touching her face to absorb some of her power and recharge. His fingers glowed blue from the contact and he smiled, easily amused. She laughed at his wonder and he leaned down to kiss her, glad that she seemed better from all of her rest. He brushed her face, leaving his hand there to keep absorbing her power. Her power restored him and he felt strong up here above her, like he could protect her from anything.

"Ya looks better," he said finally.

"I feel better. Stronger. Thanks to you."

"Won't be thankin' me when ya stop takin' the Lightnin'. 'S gonna suck big time."

"It won't be so bad this time, I can feel it. You didn't give me as much as I was taking before. I don't feel like I need it as much and I want to start cutting back as soon as possible."

"Yer already takin' only half. Ya shure ya wanna go with less?"

"Yes. I'll be all right with you and Seth watching over me."

"All right. You start slippin' an I'll up it back, 'kay?"

She smiled at that, he was such a Mother Hen. "Fine."

"Right. Ya hungry?"

"Yes, but I want to shower first."

"How 'bouts a bath?"

"Takes too long. There are some things I want to do."

"Like what? Alls we gots is time, darlin'."

She didn't answer him but rose stiffly instead and yawned. She started to undress, struggling weakly with her pants. Even she found crooked cat legs a hassle when it came to clothing. Kimble stood and helped her, trying to ignore the heat of her naked body so close to his. She turned on the water and stepped into the shower on wobbly legs, prompting him to take her arm and steady her along. She hadn't eaten as much as he'd hoped and she still looked so thin and frail. Seeing that she was going to need his support, he went right into the shower with her, still holding her up.

She looked back at him gratefully, but laughed when she saw he was still dressed. "You'll get soaked!" she said.

"It's jus' my 'skin', baby doll. My pants don' really git wet."

She looked at him closely and saw he was right. The water beaded and rolled off of his legs as though his pants were his skin for real. They didn't absorb the water.

"Could you take them off if you wanted to?" Fallen asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I reckon so, but I don't see the point of it really. Don' wants ta start sumpthin' we ain't gonna finish," he said, propping her up and lathering up her hair. He scrubbed her scalp with his usual vigor and she mistook it for him being upset by her question.

"Don't be mad," she said softly.

"I ain't mad about nuthin'," he replied honestly with a laugh. "It's jus' how things are, that's all. I don' spend hours an hours worryin' about it so neither should you."

She leaned forward and rinsed out her hair. He was very patient and held onto her so she wouldn't fall. He waited until she had rinsed all the shampoo out before asking, "So what's yer big plan fer today?"

"I'm going to try and talk with Valentin."

Kimble grunted. "That'll be a fine waste of time." He gave her the soap.

"Well, time is something I have plenty of right now, so I can't see how it could hurt."

"You'll take it easy, right?"

"Don't worry. I'll be careful."

She lathered and rinsed off quickly, grabbing a towel on her way out.

Kimble stood where he was, feeling the water run off of him. He'd forgotten how nice a hot shower was and the wonderful smell of her soaps filled his senses. His inner core was cold and anything warm that touched him gave him an extra thrill. He tarried, washing himself so he'd have her smell and watched her dress through the curtain.

He wanted her body badly, but was doing his best to choke it back. He knew it was only for his own personal gratification at this point and nothing more, except perhaps to make her happy, to make her laugh and have fun. He enjoyed her happiness more than anything. It was the only thing that made him feel alive and valuable. He loved her dearly, but wasn't truly in love with her. He'd been there once so very long ago and he knew what it was like to have that absolute, perfect love. This wasn't it. Perhaps he resented her just a little for not using him properly from the beginning and so never fell completely. He was never meant to fly ships or be a mechanic as she had him do, he wanted to play and explore and make love with anyone who was willing, enjoying himself as much as possible. He would lay down his life for her but it was because she was family. She belonged to Seth heart and soul and he knew it. Kimble wondered if she really understood how much he cared about the two of them. He knew she sometimes dismissed him as frivolous and insensitive.

He stepped out of the shower and shared her towel. She stood quietly while he brushed out her hair and fussed over her, loving his caring and attention. It was familiar and comforting to have him there helping her and she told him so, making him smile and laugh again. Finally he was satisfied she was as beautiful as she was going to get and they left the lav for the galley.

Valentin watched them pass from the doorway of their prison. Kimble put an arm on Fallen's shoulder protectively and steered her to the galley, nodding at Henry who was on guard duty.

Gambit greeted them as they entered, glad to see they both looked better rested. He'd cooked another fabulous meal, careful not to use any meat. Logan had removed the stash anyway, but he wasn't taking any chances. He set a plate down in front of Fallen and watched with contentment as she ate.

Maylee was there too, cleaning up the dishes. She smiled at Fallen and Kimble. She still hadn't formally apologized to Kimble yet. She wasn't quite sure what to say and was hoping to catch him in a quiet moment so she wouldn't have to speak in front of the others. Kimble returned her smile and she resolved to find the time to set things right between them.

Logan leaned against the wall in his usual slouch, smoking with one thumb hooked on his pants pocket as his eyes tracked Kimble's every movement. He didn't trust the holographic pilot one bit and wasn't quite sure what to do with him just yet. It was probably too much to ask for that Kimble would calm down and be good for a while.

Fallen ate in silence, enjoying Remy's cooking and contemplating her next move. She knew she had to try and negotiate with Valentin, but wasn't sure what to say. She knew he could still hold sway over her. She would have to be calm and try not to let him rattle her.

Henry came into the galley looking for breakfast and Logan walked out to relieve him as guard on the Clan. Fallen watched this changing of the guard with trepidation. She really didn't want to try and talk to Valentin with Wolverine there, but she was afraid that if she waited too long, she would lose her nerve. She finished her food quickly and stood up to leave. Kimble questioned her with his eyes and she told him to stay in Siskan.

He obeyed, quiet.

The others watched her leave. They could tell she was up to something so Gambit moved to the doorway to watch her. He shuffled some cards, but didn't follow.

Fallen walked confidently to the doorway of the barracks. Logan was seated in the first row of the passenger seats. He had his back to the wall and had started a game of solitaire. He watched her come, but didn't move or speak.

Fallen stood in the doorway and called to Valentin. He came to the door slowly, taking his time. He leaned against the doorjamb and slouched arrogantly. "What."

"Will you speak with me?" Fallen asked, not the least bit intimidated.

"Anything for you, my love." His words dripped with malice.

Fallen looked at Wolverine. "Could we have some privacy?"

"Nope. You didn't stop him from takin' us in. How do I know ya won't let him out? Think I'll just stay here and keep an eye on ya," he replied with a cocky smile.

Fallen considered using her telekinesis to forcibly remove him, but figured it wasn't worth the hassle he'd give her for it later. She closed her eyes for a moment and compartmentalized him out of her mind. She knelt down on the floor in the submissive female posture and waited. Valentin snickered and sat down in front of her, eager to begin the game.

They regarded each other as if there was no force field separating them. She made no comment about the damage Wolverine had done to his face though she hadn't known about it.

Valentin lit a cigarette and blew smoke. "What do you want, pilot?"

"It's time we re-evaluated the nature of our relationship."

"There's nothing to discuss. You are my wife." His voice was firm.

She cocked her head and smiled at him wryly. "Not any more. I renounce the Clan. We will not be returning to Cerise."

He just laughed. "You became Clan the moment the Dognan took you. They changed you. We set you free. There's no walking away."

"I gave my ten years as asked."

"Yes, you did. And what a fine service you gave. But your crime, Fallen. Now that is another matter."

Fallen looked down and smoothed imaginary wrinkles on her pants with her small white hands. "I have paid my debt. For every life I took, I saved five from the same fate. I served the Clan in ways beyond any other pilot."

"You kept secrets from us," Valentin interrupted. "This ship is a prime example."

"I never hid Lucky from you."

"No. Just the technology in it and everything else that mattered. The Siskans?"

"Are none of your concern. This is between you and me."

"You and me," he repeated softly, smoking. The light screen between them wasn't the only barrier that separated them. "Tell me, Fallen, all those times you got sick...Your 'spells'...You were murdering my children, weren't you? Your black haired freak said as much."

Fallen swallowed heavily and put her head down. "Yes." she replied softly.

"How many?" Valentin asked next through tightly gritted teeth.

"Six." Her voice was so low, Logan wasn't sure if Valentin even heard it.

"You bitch!" Valentin muttered, confirming that he had. "And the last time?"

"About four months ago."

"I forbid you to do that again! You had no right!"

"Doesn't matter now. I haven't bled since the last. I don't think I can bear anymore," she said quietly, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Why?"

"Why did I do it? Because you're a monster. I would not have your offspring loose in this world," she said quickly.

Valentin only snorted at her words. "Please! Now tell me the real reason."

Fallen paused a moment before answering. "They would have bound you even more to me. I knew the day would come when I would no longer need you."

"You will always need me."

She cocked her head up at him. "Why do you care so much about me, Valentin? As First General you must have women all over."

"No. There's never been anyone else. Not since the first time I set eyes on you."

Fallen laughed without humor, hiding her surprise. "For a man who claims to be in love, you have strange ways of showing it."

"You never let me! You made it quite clear all you wanted from me was pain."

"You enjoyed it."

"I was venting my frustration!" he snarled, keeping his voice down.

Fallen put her head down and was quiet.

"Let's take a breath now, pretty, and start over again, shall we?" he offered. He put his good hand up to the security grid and held it there as Seth had so often done.

She didn't accept. "It's too late for that. I'm sorry. My heart belongs to Seth now."

"He's not real."

"His love is," she replied with conviction, looking up into his eyes. "I have felt it. All I feel for you is a cold dead nothing. It has always been this way, I'm so sorry. Seth has touched me and showed me there was a better way to hold the Hunter back. He showed me how to save my soul, not enslave it."

She arched her back and stroked her hands down the long lovely tattoo on her chest. "This was how. Pulling the alphas out of the pens was the way to my freedom, not your bloody fists, Valentin. He raised me up while all you did was smash me down. Together with my good Kimble, we brought more flesh alive from the pens than I ever took down while I was there. Five to one, Valentin. Five live souls for each one lost."

"Come back with me and you can continue that if you love it so much. There are other pens on other worlds held by the Dognan. The more alphas the better for the Clan."

"No. I'm officially retiring. My only goal now is to restore Seth in return for all he's done for me. I won't rest until he's free from the computer as Kimble is."

Valentin did not believe. "It's his innocence that draws you. He is not a man, he is a child. Kimble's out, I assume he has been out as well. Those Siskans are quite skilled, I've used the one at Nine myself. Have you fucked him yet?"

She didn't dignify his question with a response.

"I thought not. Nothing more appealing than a fresh white virgin, eh? He's holding you back, pilot. Kill him and free yourself. Come back with me and rule the Clan. Cerebus won't last much longer," Valentin offered, daring her to refuse with his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

(Three)

Kimble had been listening as best he could from the galley door. At the mention of Seth's name, he took a few steps into the Main Room. He remembered Valentin's threat against his brother and wasn't going to stand for any more. Gambit hissed at him, warning him to go no further. Kimble obeyed for the moment, but his hands had already fisted.

Fallen laughed at her husband and shook her head. "Nice try, Valentin. I know you much too well, my Lord. There is no freedom with you. You don't desire me. You want only my power and what it can provide for you. That's just another form of slavery. I wouldn't slave for the Dognan, I won't slave for you."

Valentin smiled at her and took deep drag on his cigarette, appreciating her spirit. He blew smoke and spoke with a strange glow in his eyes. "I remember the first day I saw you. When they dragged you kicking and screaming from the pens. You were so wild and feral. What a thrill just to look at you fight them. Hmm..." he laughed. "You cut Jaska right across the face. He still carries the scars."

Fallen turned her head away, she didn't want to hear this.

"You wouldn't be tamed and they spoke of destroying you as they'd had to do to others before. I knew better. I wasn't about to let them kill such a fine creature as yourself. What a waste that would have been. I walked right up to you and took your face. Made you look at me."

Fallen wiped her face as a tear spilled down her cheek. When he spoke so tenderly like this, he could almost make her believe he actually loved her. She had to be strong and not let him sway her.

Valentin took his hand down from the screen and put it back, re-emphasizing his desire to reach out to her. "You saw me. I saw you. We knew each other then. I gave you my kiss and you were mine. I let you feel my hand and you've obeyed me ever since. I'm the one who really saved you that day. You want me and you know it. I am a part of you that you'll never be rid of. You love this Siskan? Pah! Like I said, it's his innocence that draws you. It'll only keep you so long. The Hunter will come calling and you'll be back for a taste of me again."

"That may have been true, once. No more. I've outgrown you. Moved on."

"Heh, right. Your heart is black, girl," Valentin sneered, showing her his teeth. "It's as black as mine. We are two of the same. Your Hunter's heart has been sleeping. Time for it to wake up to what reality is. You need me. You want me. You've never once denied me. You couldn't leave me behind for the Dognan and you won't leave me behind here. You'll come back with me and we'll cut Cerebus down. We will rule the Clan together as King and Queen."

"No."

"Yes! Let me out, Fallen!"

Logan sat up, ready.

Kimble took another step. This time he felt a large blue hand come down on his shoulder.

"Let them finish," Henry cautioned him. He would have put a stop to this himself except for the fact that Fallen seemed to be handling herself just fine. As bad as things were on this ship, Fallen gaining some kind of control over her own fate could only help them. He was willing to see this played out as long as no one lost their head.

Kimble trembled with rage, but stayed put.

Fallen shook her head again. "No, Valentin. You're wrong about me. I was weak so I let you torment me, thinking that was the only way to redeem myself. What a fool I was. So much wasted time. Seth has touched me with the purest love instead of your blackest hate. He knows me and what I did and loves me still. He speaks not of how I should use my power to hurt others or kill again."

"He is a boy and not even real, my lovely, how can he speak of what is true or right? You and I know what true power is and how real it can be. These Siskans are toying with you and your mind. Do you know that Kimble believes he is alive? How can this be if it is not insane? He's controlling you!"

Kimble jerked under Henry's hand but the weight of it held him."That dickless cunt ain't nuthin' but a big ass fuckin' liar, Fallen!" he complained but she ignored him.

Instead she hissed at Valentin, "No one controls me!"

"Oh, he does. This I have seen. Even May thinks it's so. You are blinded by your love for his brother. Blinded by something as false as the creature behind you. Kill him, Fallen! Kill him and win back your freedom! Release me!"

"Never!" she snarled and rose as blue Ristle flickered around her wrists. "You are what is false! All you know is Death and I've seen too much of it already!"

"Kill him, Fallen!" Valentin insisted. "He's crazy! He'll say and do anything to keep his freedom! Kill him and come back to your senses! Come back to me!"

"Forget it, Valentin! You and me? It's over! We had nothing! We are nothing! You have no Honor and so I shall never honor you or this pathetic excuse for a marriage! I am not your wife and never will be!" Fallen screamed in her rage and raised her fists. She was ready to fire off a blast of Ristle not at Kimble, but at the monster who had ordered it.

"Doncha even thinks about it!" Kimble shouted, not in anger from her actions but with concern for her. He knew she wasn't strong enough to try anything like this and he was right. She grunted in pain as a small trickle of blood dripped down from her nose. She wiped at it and it grew worse.

Henry released Kimble immediately and the pilot went to her protectively. Kimble cupped one hand under her chin to catch the blood, holding her back with his other. "Back off, Fallen! Ya cain't handle it!"

Logan stood up in between Fallen and Valentin. "Get her out of here!" he ordered to Kimble. "We're done with this!"

Valentin disagreed. "Look, Fallen! Even now he controls you! His weakness will be yours if you do not free yourself!"

Fallen squirmed under Kimble's grasp but he wasn't letting her go. "Give it up, baby doll," he grumbled in her ear.

"Break free, Fallen! Kill him now before he snaps and kills us all!" Valentin insisted.

"Shut the fuck up, ya stupid asshole!" Kimble snapped.

"Back off, all of you!" Logan growled.

"All of you can just go to hell!" Fallen snarled in her frustration and sent out a large pulse of telekinesis, pushing them all away from her. She turned and stomped off to her lav, slamming the door shut. They heard the sound of breaking glass as she hurled a jar in her anger.

"Yer dead, Vally! Ya hear me! Yer fuckin' dead!" Kimble shouted, enraged by the sight of Fallen's fury and wet of her blood all over his hands.

Valentin just laughed. "Look at you, you pathetic piece of fluff! You want her for yourself, huh? She'll never be yours! Not 'til I'm dead and she can't run back to me! You ain't never heard her squeal until you've scratched her back down to the bone, boy! You don't have the guts to do her right!"

Kimble launched himself at Valentin, his hands fisted.

_Not this stupid fucking dance again!_ Logan swore to himself. He caught Kimble like before and tossed him back, shoving him repeatedly until he was backed up into the galley.

Kimble was swearing violently over Logan's shoulder at Valentin the whole way. Valentin gave forth a volley of his own, adding to the noise and confusion.

Maylee sat on one of the galley benches, sobbing. She blocked her ears to try and shut out all the shouting but they were too loud. Henry put his arms around her and tried to comfort her.

Logan slammed Kimble back into the wall. "I've had about enough of yer bullshit, boy!"

"Git yer hands offa me!" Kimble was out of control with rage and frustration. All he could see was red. He wanted Valentin's blood now. He wanted to cut him open and see it all come gushing out. He wanted to bathe in it and drink it all down. He growled like an animal and shoved uselessly against Logan, no longer sane.

"Not until you calm down!"

"Fuck you!" Kimble snarled and phased through Logan's body. He was thinking with an odd clarity not his own and acted boldly, instinctively, intuitively guessing at Logan's next move. Kimble turned in mid-stride, moving with grace, dancing in this fight, and caught Logan as he stumbled from the shock of his freezing inner core. Kimble snaked his arm quickly around Logan's neck and cinched it tight with the opposite hand, choking him. Kimble grinned wickedly, thrilled with his success, and whispered softly, maliciously, in Logan's ear, his voice unconsciously going gravelly and deep to match that of Mirror Face's own. "Well now, what do ya knows 'bout that?"

Logan reeled as his air was cut off. He'd felt the ice cold wave as Kimble passed through him, just as shocking as it had been the first time, and then something more. He actually felt the red hot burn of Kimble's rage and a horrible vision of a shattered mirrored face flashed before his eyes. This was now the second time this had happened, his receiving messages as Kimble walked through him, and this could no longer be dismissed as a fluke. Wolverine was forced to take the vision seriously and he immediately knew this was Kimble's nightmare. This was Zander. _Damn,_ Logan thought as he recovered quickly._ Kimble must be spending his time in perpetual terror. No wonder he was so unstable. But why am I seeing this now? Is Kimble telepathic, too? Cripes! _

Remy took a step forward, raising his hands in an attempt to calm the pilot. Funny thing, though, he just loved it when somebody got the upper hand on his teammate because it happened so rarely. Gambit had no idea just how serious the situation had become, he didn't think for a minute that Kimble was any real threat here and his first reaction was to laugh. It was like some little kid kicking Wolvie's shins, it just wasn't going to happen. Gambit couldn't stop the humor in his voice as he spoke, "Esp'ere! Whoa dere, Kim. Just take it easy now, fils! Let's just all take a nice deep breath, non?"

Kimble wasn't listening. He was too filled with pride and a deep, intense satisfaction. The thrill of being in a position to punish those who had hurt him, just as Zander had suggested, suddenly didn't seem all that bad. He was going to show this arrogant prick a thing or two, oh, yes! Then they would see! He would show them all!

Logan cursed inwardly, knowing this action was going to have to be answered. He could already feel the hairs rise on the back of his arms as Kimble's body once more began to give off small telekinetic waves and knew he had no time. He wasn't about to wait around until Kimble figured how to fire off a telekinetic blast while he was awake.

Wolverine voiced his opinion of Kimble's new phasing trick by slamming his head back in a vicious head butt. Kimble had been so thrilled by his own earlier actions, he was completely unprepared for it. Because of the Adamantium in Logan's skull, it was like being hit by a sledgehammer. The Siskan yelped in agonized surprise and staggered back as his nose was crushed. Grey liquid, like blood, gushed from his nostrils and down his chin in a torrent.

"G'night, Gracie!" Logan growled, turning.

Kimble was already falling and losing consciousness when Logan gave him another unrestrained blow to the head. Logan had felt the depth of Kimble's rage and knew he had to take him down now and take him down hard. Kimble was ready to kill.

The force of Logan's second blow sent Kimble's body spinning and he landed in a tangled, undignified heap at Logan's feet. His 'skin' flickered in and out for a moment before resetting itself and staying in place. It was an eerie reminder that he was less than real.

Logan kicked him to see if he was going to stay down. "Are we done now? Fuckin' asshole!"

Kimble curled up automatically with a groan, not even awake.

Logan stood over him panting. He gave Kimble another kick out of frustration for all of this, but next cried out in surprise as Henry fearlessly shoved him against the next wall and pinned him. Beast was much heavier and trapped him easily, being careful to press Logan's hands away from his face in case Logan decided to take this to the next level. "That's enough, Logan! You had no right to hit him like that!"

"Get offa me, Blue!" Logan warned with a growl. He snapped his claws out on one hand, justifying Henry's caution.

"I wouldn't be doin' dat, furball," Gambit cautioned, this time with real intention, all of his earlier humor gone. He stood behind Henry and held up a card, backing up his teammate without hesitation. He hadn't charged it, but the threat was there in his glittering red eyes. He was furious at the force Logan had used, anyone could see that Kimble had had no chance against him. It had been overkill and unnecessary. Even cruel.

"Kimble's outta control! He's dangerous! He needed puttin' down! You saw what he did! I did what I had ta do!" Wolverine protested.

Henry backed off a little and Logan sheathed his claws. The blue doctor's eyes were still hard. "You didn't need to hit him that hard. He was no match for you."

Logan squirmed away from him and stood in the doorway of the galley, straightening his shirt as he recovered his dignity. "Now he knows it, too," he said arrogantly, daring the others to challenge his observation. "I'm gonna check on Fallen." He left in a huff.

Gambit shook his head, disgusted with the whole thing, how it had fallen apart so rapidly. "Don' know who's worse --- 'im losin' control or dat one dere t'inkin 'e can take Logan on even though 'e got nuthin' ta fight wit." His face softened a bit as he recalled the look of triumph on Kimble's face, momentary it had been, but still amusing. "De pilot, 'e got no fear, il est courageux, neh? Too bad de faible la chose can't take a hit."

Henry crouched down next to Kimble and examined him. The scientist in him was taking advantage of opportunity to finally get as close to this strange hologram as he had wanted. His fingertips carefully brushed strands of hair from the unconscious pilot's eyes, and he marveled at how real the silken tresses felt. Kimble's skin was warm and he could feel the heat of his breath as he wheezed. This skin was certainly more than capable of representing the injury done to him, two large bruises had formed on his side where Logan had kicked him and both of his eyes were bruised, one was already swelling shut. His nose was bent out of shape, but not broken. He didn't have bones in the real sense, but he was significantly damaged. Grey blood continued to bubble out of his nostrils as he breathed and it pooled on the floor. Henry dipped his finger in it and sniffed it. It was ice cold and had no smell. "Fascinating..." he murmured to himself as it shimmered and disappeared from his fingertip as if it had never been real. "This must be some kind of liquid energy. Ristle in physical form perhaps?" he continued to muse, thinking out loud.

"It's gross," Remy commented and tossed him a towel.

Henry used it to wipe at poor Kimble's face, the guy was a mess. Kimble groaned and whimpered without waking. "Poor thing. He's going to have to learn to be a little faster," Henry commented wryly.

The Cajun snorted laughter. "Gotta admit, 'e was clever in de beginning. At least 'e was t'inkin' a little bit before de furball sent 'im for a ride. Too bad it wasn't enough. Just once I'd like 't see Logan get what's comin' to 'im. 'E could use a good whuppin'," Gambit joked, grinning at the thought of Logan getting his ass kicked.

Henry laughed in understanding if not in complete agreement. "Perhaps a little humility would do him good, but I doubt our friend here will be up to the task."

Gambit cocked his head and looked at Kimble's ruined face, losing some of his humor. Kimble was wrecked. "Damn. Fallen ain't gonna be 'appy when she see dis."


	4. Chapter 4

(Four)

Logan passed Valentin who stood silently grinning in the doorway of the barracks, the First General had clearly witnessed Kimble's beating with real pleasure. Joseph and Bruce were behind him. Talk about trouble waiting for a place to happen. Logan tried to ignore them and went into the cage. He knocked on Fallen's lav door. Of course she didn't answer.

"Fallen, open this door or I'll cut it down!"

She opened it and turned away without looking at him. She stood with her back to him facing the bathtub in a deliberate show of defiance. She had a bloody towel in her hand but her nose had stopped bleeding. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Are ya all right?"

"I'm fine," she said, not moving.

Logan looked at her defiant back and smiled to himself. She really was fearless. And every inch the pain in the ass he'd figured she be. "Just lettin' you know that the bullshit is gonna stop."

She turned back to face him, an icy smile on her lips. "Are you taking over, little man?" She took a step towards him and pushed him back a bit with her telekinesis, just enough to let him know it was there and that she'd use it. "I think not. I've spent the last ten years being pushed around by bigger pricks than you. You don't scare me."

Logan grinned, he couldn't help himself. These spirited women did it to him every time. "I don't wanna fight you, girl. What I want is a little less arguin' and a lot more of us gettin' outta here. Seems ta me if we'd put in as much energy inta gettin' outta here as we have inta all of this fightin' we'd all be home by now."

Her smile thawed a bit. "You're right, of course." She backed off and sat down on the commode, looking at him.

He saw past her brave front to the sick, frail woman behind it and his anger cooled. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I'd just like to get through this shit with Valentin. There will be no peace until this is settled. I should have realized the extent of his devotion," she said sarcastically. "The negotiations will take some time."

"Time and energy best spent on gettin us home. Plenty of time to argue there. Prob'ly safer, too. Let us help you. We can watch your back. Right now, you need to rest. If you can't do that, at least spend the time doin' somethin' more constructive. We still got two engines down last time I checked. Kimble's done some work, but he's nowhere near finished. It's worse than he thought. He could really use the help."

"I'm not sure how much I can do. The bigger repairs will take Ristle," she explained. "I use it like welders do. I have to wait until my levels are higher. Probably sometime tomorrow." She held him with her pale blue eyes, strong again. "I want to get out of here just as much as you do, Wolverine. I'm not holding anything back from you. When I am ready, I'll get you home."

"I'm sure you will. Until then, I want-- I'm **askin'** -- that you stay away from Valentin. Me an' the guys'll look after him and the gang."

Her smile finally warmed. It changed the whole look of her face. She seemed much younger, not so tired. "All right, Mr. Wolverine, sir. Whatever you say," she teased, not trying to antagonize him.

He grunted, grinning. "Right, then. Now. Are you really okay? You need anything?"

"I'm fine. Please return my Siskan, if you don't mind. He'll be less trouble with me."

"I doubt that, but I'll send him back just t' keep from lookin' at him," he grumbled good naturedly and turned to go.

"What is it about him that disturbs you so?" Fallen asked before he could leave.

He looked back at her. "He's an unknown. Both of them are. You really don' have a clue what they're capable of. Right now Seth's cute an' cuddly like a little 'ol teddy bear. But sometimes those bears turn around an' bite ya in the ass. Kimble's one of those. He's dangerous and out of control."

"Spoken like a true skeptic," she teased. "I wonder if you've ever known true wonder in your long life. Doesn't anything new or different please you?"

"Sure, but I also know when ta be careful and not toss my heart out at the first pretty, doe eyed thing I see," Wolverine teased, letting her know he thought her love fascination was just a flight of fancy, a dream never to be fulfilled.

"Seth does love me, I've felt it. Haven't you ever known real love yourself? The legends say it's so, but I wonder. You spend so much time shoving every one away, how would you truly know if it was ever there?"

He considered his answer. "I've known it. Had it ripped away. I don't give my heart away lightly," he said, unusually candid. "When I do, I try to make sure I give it to someone real. Not just some kind of made up fantasy."

"Seth is no fantasy," she spoke, very serious.

"I hope yer right, for your sake," he said and walked out.


	5. Chapter 5

(Five)

When Kimble first woke, he was in the Black Room. He was in the circle of light on a hard floor, splayed out on his belly. He groaned and got up on his hands and knees, bringing a string of bloody spittle with him from the floor. He wiped at his mouth, disgusted at the sight of it, of his weakness. He saw Seth cowering with fear, half in, half out of the light. His brother was covering his ears, but looking at him with nothing but concern.

"Ughh...What happened?" Kimble wheezed. He honestly couldn't remember.

"You let your temper get away from you again," Seth said, his face wet with tears. All of the day's violence was too much for him to bear. "What's wrong with you? He's like Valentin, you know. You shouldn't piss him off. He could kill you!"

"He ain't gonna hurts me."

Bold words and an empty threat considering his present condition.

"Go see Fallen, she'll help you. She can take the pain away," Seth advised.

"How she gonna do that--- ?" he started to ask, but was suddenly transported back to the real world, his real body had woken up, wrenching him violently away.

Back on the galley floor, Kimble twitched and groaned as he slowly became more aware.

" 'E's wakin' up, doc," Gambit said from close by.

Kimble managed to get his ass end up off the floor before an enormous wall of pain slammed into his head, forcing a gasped sob of pain from his lips still plastered to the ground. He didn't know if he'd ever felt this much pain before and he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. A bloody, raging animal scream was rising up in his throat and he choked on it. He wanted to be so done with this. He wanted no more pain. It was becoming less and less worth it to be out, he was getting slammed from all sides.

Kimble tried to open his eyes, but they didn't seem to be working. He groaned again and attempted once more to rise. His body obeyed, but his head wouldn't leave the floor. He reached out and grasped one of the metal benches, using it to heave himself up. He was hit with a bad case of vertigo and he retched hard, coughing up a thick pool of grey hologram gel on to the bench. It shimmered, sparkling blue, and disappeared like a ghost.

" 'E ain't lookin' too good," Remy commented again, his voice tight with worry. While Kimble may have appreciated the concern, words alone weren't going to help him right now.

Large warm hands gripped him, pulling him to his feet. He opened the one eye that still worked and all he saw was blue fur. He sagged onto Beast, shivering and whining like a dog that had been kicked. The pain evolved into a throbbing ache on the left side of his face and tears spilled from his eyes. All the bravery in him was gone, all there was left was the poor wounded child.

"Gently," Henry coaxed.

Kimble found his feet and lurched to one side, reaching for the counter to steady himself. He grabbed it and after a minute of desperate shaking was able to stand on his own. He wiped his mouth with a trembling hand, trying desperately to focus. He could only see out of the one eye and everything was blurry. His nose was still leaking gel, the injury disturbed by his rising, and he wiped at it impatiently, disgusted by the sensation of bleeding. He felt the wetness on his hand and looked at it stupidly, surprised to see more grey gel. That was funny, in all of his dreams, his blood was always red. He felt his gorge rise again, but he kept it down.

"Feeling any better now?" Henry asked, concerned.

Kimble didn't answer. He had to get out of here, he'd had more than enough, and needed the security of his Mistress. Nothing else mattered except finding the will to get to her. It would be no easy feat, he was completely trashed. He put a hand against the side of his head that hurt the most and wrapped his other arm around his aching stomach. He hauled his ocean of misery out of the galley, wincing with each step as though he'd swallowed glass, and shuffled drunkenly to Fallen's lav. Henry followed a pace behind, making sure he didn't fall.

Logan was on his way out when he saw Kimble coming. He was shocked silent at Kimble's condition, he didn't realize how fragile Kimble was and couldn't squash a surge of guilt. The hologram clearly wasn't designed for the kind of abuse he'd dished out. Logan paused and let Kimble pass.

Kimble staggered by him and sagged against the back wall of the lav, waiting for Wolverine to leave. Even in this moment of weakness, Kimble didn't want to give Logan the satisfaction of watching him collapse.

"My God!" Fallen cried. She looked at Logan, furious. "What did you do to him!"

"Nuthin' he didn't ask for," His voice was calm.

She knew Kimble too well to argue. "Get out!" Fallen hissed at Wolverine, her eyes blazing.

Logan obeyed, leaving them alone.

Fallen looked up at her bruised and battered champion and said gently, "Hey, tough guy."

Kimble shuffled towards her, his hand still pressed to his head. He dropped down to his knees in front of her and put his head in her lap with a whimper. "Helps me, Fallen!" he cried, breaking down into hacking sobs.

She lay her hands on him, concerned. In all the time she'd known him, she'd never seen him this distraught so many times in such a short period of time. Whatever was going on with him, it was getting worse. She bent over him and cried out in surprise as his body took a good sized draw of Ristle from her.


	6. Chapter 6

Note: This chapter contains some strong sexual content. I tried to keep it from being too explicit, it is not my intention to offend anyone. If you're sensitive to such material, skim or skip this chapter, but it does have ramifications for later events in this story. SQ.

(Six)

Fallen was back in that alien black sky, falling down on her back. As when Kimble had taken energy from her before, it was a gentle descent and she wasn't afraid. Besides, she wasn't alone. Kimble lay on top of her again, his arms tightly wrapped around her in a loving embrace, holding him in place. His eyes were closed and a dreamy half smile was on his lips, he looked like he was peacefully asleep. She said his name and brushed his face but he didn't stir.

The shimmering light was above her, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from this time either. She instinctively knew this was the same place she'd gone to before when she re-charged Kimble for the first time. Then and now Kimble had taken a large dose of Ristle. The casual draws of power he took from her with light touches throughout the day did not affect her like this. She had an idea that she was in the main computer system somehow and that Kimble had taken her here, but she had no way to know for sure. Excited by the possibility, she looked around her for Seth but, she didn't see anyone else besides Kimble with her.

Disappointed, she looked below her and saw the bed again as it rushed up to meet them. She sank deeply into it's pleasant comfort, not really feeling Kimble's weight as they landed together. They rolled slightly to one side as the bed caught them and Kimble snickered softly and smiled. He didn't wake, but jerked convulsively with a pleasured gasp as the rush from the Ristle took him. He mumbled something with a laugh and then grew still, sleeping now.

Fallen brushed his hair back again and saw that the bruises on his face were gone, he'd been restored. He looked peaceful, serene, as good as new. She couldn't help but kiss him gently on his forehead like she would a child. The whole thing was too bizarre for words, but for the moment she was too comfortable to care.

She startled when she heard a soft rustle of wings and looked up to see Seth dropping down beside her. She saw first his look of shock that Kimble wasn't alone but then his grateful surprise as he realized that it was her, his precious Mistress there for real.

"Fallen!" he gasped, breathless, but then his expression changed into one of silent, jealous anger when he saw Kimble so tightly in her embrace.

Not wanting any misunderstandings ruining this opportunity, she immediately let go of Kimble and beamed her beautiful smile up at Seth, making him relax instantly. "Come here, you," she said, gently demanding that he lay down next to her. He complied, always obedient, and Fallen then snuggled comfortably in between her two Siskans.

They both laughed when they heard Kimble start to gently snore. Not once did Kimble wake throughout any of this, he was blissfully passed out and immovable.

Fallen had her mind on other things. She held Seth's face in her pale white hands and looked him over as if she couldn't believe he was real. He appeared so young and fragile compared to Kimble even though they were twins. She wasn't used to seeing him in such detail, she could see his white eyelashes and the sparkling blue of his eyes. He had Kimble's gentle, teasing laugh, the same merriment in his expression. She kissed him as she laughed with joy, certain that she must have gone off the deep end. If this was crazy, she'd take it.

"I've missed you so much," Seth said, basking in her attention. He returned her kisses with the sloppy zeal of a virgin.

"What is this place?"

"You're in the system though I have no clue how you got here," Seth explained, confirming what she'd guessed. "Kimble and I can meet here in this place. We call it the Black Room."

"If that's true then how did I get here? I don't have a modem like you guys, I'm a real person."

Seth shrugged and gave his best guess. "I suppose Kimble must have brought you. I think your power connects you, giving a telepathic link when the draw is powerful enough. He must have used it to bring you here. He's sleeping now. If I had to guess, I'd say you'll leave as soon as he wakes up."

"Then let's make the most of it," she said, eagerly wrapping herself around him. She was giddy and high with the euphoria of having him so close to her again. She was greedy and needy and willing to play along with insanity for this, this precious moment. "I want what was denied me."

"All right," Seth replied, game for this himself.

Making love with Seth for the first time in the Black Room would remain the single most erotic experience of Fallen's strange life. It was bizarre and wonderful, yet laughable because of Kimble's dead weight beside her. It was like being naughty at a slumber party. She laughed and pulled Seth on top of her, wanting this so badly. It amazed her that she could feel him against her as though he was real and she couldn't stop laughing at the madness of it all.

Seth didn't care that she laughed, the sound of her voice thrilled him beyond measure. She was really here! "You're going to have to forgive me, my love," he stammered happily, a little nervous but unafraid of his precious Mistress. "This is my first time and I don't know what to do. Would you like me to scan Kimble's pleasure files? It might help," he offered with a mischievous grin.

Fallen laughed and touched his face. "No, silly. It's you I want. I'll help you."

"Hope you're not going to be sorry," he replied, still grinning.

Seth was his usual uncoordinated self as he fumbled through the paces of making love to her, but what he lacked in finesse, he made up for in enthusiasm. Fallen laughed without a care, loving him far too much to be bothered by anything. She was gentle as she guided him, easing him into her so she wouldn't have much pain. It wasn't all that long ago that Valentin had used her so badly and she had felt bruised and battered inside most of the time.

To her surprise, Seth's body over her and inside of her caused her no pain whatsoever and she surmised that this wasn't really her body the same way that this wasn't a real place. She was really asleep back in the lav, right? This had to be a dream, a most desirable and potent dream. It was much too surreal to be anything else.

For a figment of her imagination, Seth was quite realistic. He was responsive to her touches, crying out sharply with pleasure at the sensation of being suddenly inside of her, something that made her laugh. It didn't stop him from finding a rhythm, from figuring out what he was supposed to do next. His face flushed from the joy of this and the labor of his gentle thrusting. She could feel him start to sweat as he grew more excited, giving her the impression this was completely real. He was breathing heavily, panting with lustful passion as he writhed against her, his breath warm and shivery on her own damp skin. He was gentle and tender as he kissed her, his lips soft and careful, but he'd always been like that.

Seth was a good personality, her friend in all things. He was kind and never cross when he spoke to her. Trapped inside the system, Seth could never really hug her before she discovered the hologram, so he always put his hands to the screen as if they could touch, understanding her need for it. Later when he'd been out, he was always too overwhelmed for her to touch him for as long as she wanted to, though they had shared some brief yet blazing kisses, ones she would never forget. In here, with nothing to hold him back or intimidate him, they had a grand time.

Seth was equally amazed at all of this, this strange thing happening here. It was odd to have someone here besides Kimble. He now understood why Kimble had wanted him to remove the password for the Black Room. He owed Kimble big time for this but wasn't complaining in the least. He'd wanted Fallen for as long as he could remember but never dreamed it would actually happen. Now she was here in his arms, his most beloved Mistress. After the accident, he'd been afraid she would abandon him for Kimble only because he was available and Seth was not. Her visit here made all the pain of being separated vanish. She'd made her choice and he trusted her honor to keep it. The thrill of being chosen was almost more than he could bear. He couldn't stop himself from crying from the joy of it.

Unlike being outside in the hologram, here Seth was comfortable and confident with his body. He was bold as he explored her and was excited by the new range of his sensations. He could taste her on his tongue and smell her on his skin. And well.. the rest of him? There was no describing the heat of her body sheathed around him. He shivered hard, so close to finishing. He fought it, desiring the climax, but at the same time, not wanting this to ever end. He would never get enough of her and never wanted her to leave.

As his passion became more urgent, as he felt the inevitable crest of his pleasure coming, he could hardly keep from weeping from the amount of pleasure that was flooding his senses. He could hear a kind of whispering rush in his ears...or was it in his mind? It took him a moment to realize it was the sound of her heart beating. It was all over him, inside and out, the sound of it a pounding rhythm that matched his own. He could sense her everywhere and all around him, it was overwhelming. He cried out without modesty or shame as his body seemed to lose control of itself and the final rush burst out of him and into her. Her cries matched his own as she climaxed herself, quivering in his arms. He was exhilarated and frightened all at once, the ripples of sensation washing over him in powerful waves, making him shake and shake. This was one new experience he wasn't likely to forget. He clung to her as he shivered over and over again and heard her laugh softly in his ear.

"Fallen! My god...!" he gasped, trembling all over.

"I know, my love. I know," she whispered gently, holding him tightly until the last of his shivers were gone and he lay still.

Fallen then told him how much she loved him and repeated it over and over just so he'd know it forever. She untied his long ponytail and ran her hands through his silky white hair. It felt wonderful and soft as it sifted through her hands. She felt him kiss her neck and heard him mumble that he could taste her. He shivered against her again, unable to hide all that he was feeling inside.

This was almost too good to be true. Her heart was going to burst from all the love she had for him. She whispered his name, hoping now this was in fact real and not just a dream. She wondered again if she was crazy and had finally lost her mind. Lord knows she'd been close so many times. How could this possibly be real? She'd just had wonderful, glorious sex with a digital man in a place that didn't exist.

Seth absorbed her love and her words as if they were tangible. They warmed him and made him feel amazingly alive and vibrant with their energy. He could feel the essence of them coming into him and it made him more euphoric and high than the sex had done. He now knew why Kimble missed making love so much. If it felt like this to Kimble, he must be in misery without it. Seth could barely contain his anticipation of having her again. It would be an eternity.

Next to him, Kimble made a noise.

"We don't have much time," Seth said softly in pained resignation. This was going to end and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Fallen turned to look at Kimble and saw that his face had changed. He wasn't sleeping so peacefully anymore. He twitched and whined softly in pain, his face losing what little color it had. He wrapped his arms around his middle and curled up against her, groaning in pain. He looked like he would start to cry, the corners of his eyes growing wet.

Fallen was instantly concerned. "What's wrong with him?"

Seth's voice was sad as he answered as best he could. "He's having bad dreams all the time now. I think it has to do with the hologram memory files that were unlocked by the access code. I think he buried them on purpose when you found him. They haunt him now somehow. It makes me afraid. I think something really bad happened to him and that's why he was broken. Promise me you'll be careful."

"Kimble wouldn't hurt anyone."

"I know that, but Kimble's different now. We all are from what happened. I worry about him. I worry about you. Be careful."

"I will," she whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

(Seven)

Fallen went to kiss Seth again, but Kimble cried out and she was suddenly transported back to the real world. She was laying down on the bathroom floor in the tangle of blankets that had become her new bed. She was groggy and slow to wake, taking a full minute before she blinked woozily and finally sat up. This whole switching thing between a dream and reality was disorienting. She looked beside her but Kimble was gone. The floor was warm beside her where he had been so she knew he had just left. She rose and washed her face, feeling lightheaded and dreamy. She felt truly in love, something that hadn't happened to her in a long time. She looked in the mirror, but there was no sign that Seth had even touched her. She would have loved a hickey then, just something to prove it had been real. She called out his name, but there was no answer. The viewing screen was dark.

Fallen automatically reached for her jar of cigarettes, but hesitated. For the first time in a long while, she stopped to think about all the damage she'd done to her body. There were lots of jars on this vanity, most of them were full of poisons. Seth had just given her an excuse to reconsider what she was doing to herself. If she had gone to see him this once, it might be possible to do that again. If she were to die, she'd never have that possibility again. She laughed softly and left the jar where it was.

Fallen wandered out into the main room, seeing that no one was on guard duty watching the Clansmen. She heard voices and next poked her head into the galley. Maylee and the X-men were playing poker. Logan was keeping watch, seated where he could peek through the door and see across the Main Room to the barracks door.

He looked up at Fallen and smiled, startled by the radiance in her face. He knew then. He knew she'd gotten off but was surprised she'd allowed Kimble to do it. No way would she look that good doing it by herself. Maybe she felt bad for the guy, he had been pretty badly damaged. Whatever. "Hey, darlin'," he drawled, his accent reminding her of Kimble's. "You look better."

"I am," she answered with a smile. "You guys seen Kimble?"

"Funny. Last I knew, 'de boy was barely walkin'," Gambit replied with a laugh. He cocked his head in bemused wonder when he saw the color in her cheeks. He didn't need his ability to read people to figure her out, not when she was so obviously pleased with herself.

"I thought he was with you," Logan grumbled, instantly on guard.

"He was. I fell asleep and just woke up. I must have just missed him." As she spoke, soft guitar music started to play from the lower level. She smiled. "Never mind."

She left them and went down to the lower level. She slowly crept down the hallway, following the sound of the music. She hovered in the doorway of the tool room and smiled when she saw Kimble there.

Kimble was seated comfortably on a work bench stool. He had taken the guitar out of the Storage Room and was tuning it, a skill he had picked up from the ship's computers. Joe Cool, he had a lit cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes squinting a little as smoke drifted up from it. A jar of cigarettes and a fresh bottle of whiskey was at his feet, he clearly planned on sitting there a while. As in the Black Room, all the bruises from his face were gone, she had healed him with her Ristle. He didn't seem to notice her so she stood where she was, watching him.

Kimble had always been restless and Fallen learned quickly that she had to keep him busy. If he got too bored, he would torment her with practical jokes or worse until she went crazy. Because they both shared a love for music, she decided he should learn to play an instrument. She obtained music files and gave them to Seth. He wrote some codes and was able to create an actual instrument in their digital environment, one that Kimble took to immediately and with great enthusiasm. Kimble went even farther, copying her music files and teaching himself to play almost her entire library. When Fallen found a real guitar in a Dognan storehouse during a raid, she took it in case she ever got the hologram running. He'd tried playing it a few times already as a hologram and enjoyed it.

Back in the shop now, Kimble used a mental command to start a song playing overhead on the computer. He sat easy, smoking as he listened. The song was kind of melancholy and he now seemed a little sad. He had a strange haunted look in his eyes she'd never seen before. He scratched at one arm absently as he listened, taking the cigarette from his mouth and holding it. She could then see his hands were trembling slightly and she realized that the look in his eyes was fear. Real fear. Something had upset him badly.

Fallen knew what his problem was, he was taking too much responsibility on himself and he was burning out. He was trying too hard, but that had always been his way. He was a perfectionist at times and this seemed like one of them. He'd gotten it into his head that he was her protector, but he wasn't even close to being capable of pulling it off. All the men upstairs had him seriously outclassed and he knew it, Logan had made that painfully and abundantly clear. Kimble wouldn't last two seconds against Valentin and Wolverine had already pounded him without batting an eye.

Fallen understood that she would have to find a way to help Kimble around his problem without being obvious about it. She could give him some fighting files, but she knew that would only cause more trouble. No, she would have to manipulate him out of harm's way. She was stronger now, in both power and spirit thanks to Seth. She would just have to be clever. She knew Kimble well enough to do this.

She remembered when she had first met him as she'd installed the program into the ship's computers. Like she had described to Henry, she'd bribed the Clan's Curator of Files to get it. She'd found the Siskan files by accident while looking for something else. When she saw it was really a Siskan hologram, she knew she had to have it. Her bribe hadn't been much and she'd returned to the Lucky Dragon cheerfully with her prize. She knew what a Siskan Courtesan was, having seen a couple used by the Dognan. She was a little disappointed when she saw that the program had been severely damaged and most of the files were missing or locked out. There was no way she could do more than use him as a personality for the ship, but she didn't care. She'd been lonely and was interested in the challenge of restoring it.

Once freed from his deep slumber and forcibly brought back to life, Kimble was confused and disoriented. He'd been an active hologram before and was more used to interacting out in the real world then inside this digital world. He chaffed against the confinement of his new two dimensional environment. He wasn't violent but vented in long colorful verbal arguments and complaints. She was impressed at how convincing his personality was, how real. It was like she was dealing with mentally deranged living being. She could tell then that he was special and meant for greater things. He intrigued her greatly so she decided to try and fix him.

She started by creating the control room. Given an environment he could interact in, Kimble was much better and more motivated to learn. He wanted to know and do it all right away. He tried to learn everything too quickly and got frustrated and overwhelmed. He was a perfectionist when it came to his work and nothing less would satisfy him. He still wasn't stable emotionally and Fallen believed it was because of all the missing files. She could try to build new files but didn't know how to integrate them into him. The best solution she could come up with was to create Seth and maintain the split.

She was pleasantly surprised when Kimble readily accepted his new partner and even enjoyed having Seth around. Kimble had needed the close interaction of another person and immediately calmed and settled down. He took Seth under his wing and helped him to develop and grow. They would disappear together off into the system at times and she now realized that one or both of them had created the Black Room by that time. Seth probably. His specialty was computer programming and codes. Kimble was better at manual controls, such as flying the ship. Kimble couldn't create the controls, but could master their use when he applied himself. It wasn't long before he flew the ship so well, Fallen didn't want to fly it without him.

Fallen used her telekinesis to maneuver the ship, but Kimble had a way of optimizing it's use with the controls. He also maximized the distribution of Ristle in the system, improving efficiency. Fallen didn't have to work anywhere near as hard as she used to. She was excited and pleased by this. They were a good team. He helped her repair and design the Siskan engines she was using. Seth did the research and Kimble applied what he found. The Lucky Dragon soon became the fastest and most powerful craft in the Clan fleet.

Seth's research also led him to discover other Siskan programs he could borrow from to repair some of the damage done to Kimble. With each new find, the two of them became more interactive and vibrant. They shared a lot of the same files and so she perceived them as twins, siamese twins. They were bonded together but separate at the same time. Seth found the skin program and gave it her, buzzing with excitement. He wanted her to decide what the two of them should look like. It would turn out to be one of the most defining moments in all of their lives.

Up until this point, the two brothers were blocky, misshapen humanoid figures moving about a pixilated control room. The skin program was a significant upgrade and changed all that. Fallen knew she wanted them to be pilots because they flew the ship. She wanted Kimble to be male because his aggressive outgoing personality would probably be more comfortable this way. She simply assumed he'd always been a man and he didn't question her decision. Problem was, all pilots were female. She found a skin for a pilot and with a little creative license, was able to modify it to her satisfaction. She decided to give Kimble the darker colorings and larger physique because of his physical way of doing things. When she saw him as a pilot for the first time, she was struck by his realism as he moved and got a feel for his new body. He was a real person to her now.

Because it hadn't occurred to her before, she asked Kimble if he knew what his real name was, the one his creator had given him. He just looked at her with those twinkling pale blue eyes and his grin teased the corners of his mouth. He said his name slowly, shyly, almost seductively as he purred it from his mouth. He was so serious for a moment, then busted up laughing. She knew then she was in for a wild ride. He wouldn't disappoint her.

She tried to fix his voice. She had believed his odd speech patterns were so poor because of the damage to the program. He resisted all of her efforts, manipulating Seth into reversing all of her changes. It didn't take long for her to figure out he'd always spoken this way. He was intelligent and had a large vocabulary, but wanted to talk like an uneducated redneck. Whatever. He must believe it to be disarming or charming.

He also loved to swear. God, he was awful. It was worse when he was agitated, but she couldn't stop that either. The harder she tried to get him to stop, the worse he became. She learned to leave well enough alone. Of course, Kimble thought the whole thing was hilarious. He had a lot of spirit for a computer generated personality.

Fallen had originally planned to make Seth female because he was so timid and shy, but Kimble talked her out of it. He wouldn't say why, but was so insistent she gave in. He could get her to do almost anything he wanted if he was persistent enough. It wasn't until much later that he told her Seth's little secret. It was after one of Valentin's nightmare visits. She'd been severely beaten and was giving up hope. She was going to overdose to try and kill herself, but Kimble talked her down. "Seth's in love with ya, always has been," he said, trying to soothe her distress. "The kid don' know it, is all. He's too stupid ta figger it out just yet, but he'll get there."

"How do you know?" she asked from behind her tears.

"Cuz he tells me things. 'Sides, just takes a good look at him. You kin sees it if yer lookin' hard enough."

Fallen took his advice and saw that it was true. It was in the way Seth looked at her and the gentle way he spoke to her. He went out of his way to make time for her and always wanted to be where she was. She'd just been too blind to see it and he was too shy to shout it at her. Fallen now knew why Kimble had been so insistent on Seth being male. Kimble had been looking out for her from the beginning. She loved him for it. He'd saved her that night.

She chose to color Seth in white to emphasize the differences between them. They were two individuals locked together.

When she discovered the hologram codes and began working on them, Kimble grew very excited. Almost immediately, Seth was behind the scenes manufacturing new codes that would allow for them to be separated and maintain integrity. The unspoken plan was for her to create two holograms and retrieve them both from the system. Fallen wasn't too sure she wanted to do that. Kimble was just too good flying the ship. What would she do without him? She dragged her feet on the codes, deciding. She wanted Seth out, but felt guilty about leaving Kimble behind.

Now the whole thing had been decided by an accident of fate. Her poor timing and bad decision to destroy them all had cost her Seth, possibly forever. Fallen did not believe Maylee's accusation that Kimble had orchestrated the events and turned them to his favor. No, Fallen had wrecked everything all on her own.

She continued to watch Kimble now as he sat staring off into space. The song had looped over again, but he didn't seem to notice. He smoked mechanically, lost in his own thoughts. He was really quite handsome, she thought with a smile. He gave off an air of animal sexuality that had to be a byproduct of the pleasure program codes. He had a dynamic presence that she knew would draw others to him. She recalled how silly she felt choosing the sexual attributes of the twins, but was now glad she hadn't shortchanged either of them there.

She just hoped Kimble would be able to handle himself out here. So far things didn't seem to be going too well for him. Of course this was the worst possible environment for him to be re-learning his way around. He'd been in at least two fights that she knew of and got manhandled by Wolverine in both. This last one had been really bad. She felt a shiver of pain when she thought of how awful he'd looked. At least she'd been able to repair the damage. There was no sign of the punishment he'd received. Still, she figured Kimble's self esteem must be pretty low right about now. Part of her was hoping that was why he was having the nightmares. A simple stress thing could be worked out once they landed. It wouldn't take Kimble long to pair off with someone. No, not that handsome devil. She wondered how many maids Xavier had. She hoped it was a lot.

Unfortunately, Fallen also remembered what Seth had said to her about Kimble possibly struggling with the unlocked memory files. She knew Kimble was broken when she'd found him, but didn't know why. The Clan was not known for their programmers, it was very likely the program had been corrupted just by someone fooling around with it. Now she began to speculate the break had been deliberate. She knew about the Siskan who'd gone nuts and killed seven men, but the thought of Kimble being that Siskan had always seemed absurd to her. Kimble was just too playful and gentle to be him, his kiss was so tender. How could a deranged killer be so thoughtful and careful as her good sweet Kimble? It just wasn't possible. But what was he dreaming of that frightened him so?


	8. Chapter 8

(Eight)

After the fight with Logan, the Ristle rush from Fallen's repair hadn't lasted long for Kimble. He had fallen back to sleep only to tumble back into his new world of nightmares. He was in agony, his body hurting. These horrible dreams were killing him slowly, ripping his mind apart. He found himself lying balled up on the floor in Fallen's lav. He called for his Mistress, but he was alone. He closed his eyes and looked into the Black Room, startled to see Fallen and Seth there making love. He was thrilled for them, he really was, but it didn't help him now. His belly was on fire. His lungs were filled with slivers of glass. It was all in his guts, too. He'd been stabbed, run through with swords and was now lying in a pool of frozen grey liquid. He was bleeding out onto the floor. He couldn't move and sobbed loudly in his misery.

A hand reached down and touched him gently. He looked up and saw Zander's shattered face peering down at him from above. "Nnoo... Go away!" Kimble groaned.

"You kin end yer pain, Kimble. Ya knows whatcha gots ta do."

"Jus' kill me if that's whatcha want!" Kimble sobbed, in pain beyond reason.

"Find the swords, ya knows where they are. Kill Valentin. Kill the ones what hate you. Punish thems! When it's just the three of yous again -- you and Seth and Fallen -- yer pain will end! It'll be just like it wuz before -- no pain, no hurtin's like this! Do it now! Punish them! Punish them all!"

Kimble woke to reality abruptly. He was disoriented because he was still in the lav, wrapped in blankets with Fallen beside him. He was still in pain although the gel blood wasn't there. His guts hurt, the injuries there gone but leaving ghost pains behind. He had to end this. He had to do what needed to be done, he would go mad if he didn't. He rose awkwardly and staggered to his feet. He shuffled out of the lav much as he'd shuffled in, his arms wrapped around his belly and wincing with every step. He passed the barracks, but no one was on guard duty. Not that he noticed, he was in a red fog of pain and thought only of his destination. He made his way down to the lower level and to the Storage Room. He entered and found what he was looking for.

The Clansmen's swords had been stacked neatly on one of the shelves and he stood looking at them for a moment before reaching out with a trembling hand. He grasped Valentin's sword from the pile and slid it out of the scabbard. It felt so heavy and right there in his hand, so perfect. He raised it and watched as the overhead light danced across the blade. He shivered as his pain left him suddenly. He was filled with a kind of euphoria and he laughed. He could use this, yes, he could do what needed to be done.

"That ain't the way I taught ya, baby doll."

Kimble startled at the sound of the familiar voice, one that could never be Mirror Face. No this was one altogether new. Sheyman. No, it couldn't be. Sheyman was dead. Dead and buried on Siska long ago. Kimble looked around him in a panic, but he was alone. He was totally freaked out now and jumped when he looked back and saw the sword in his hand. He dropped it back on the shelf with a clatter, shocked and horrified by what he'd been thinking. He was hearing voices in his head and contemplating murder.

"I've gone over...!" he whispered. "I've gone over and turned alla the way around. What the fuck am I gonna do?" He staggered away from the swords and fell against the wall. He slid to the floor, covering his face with his hands. "I gots ta git outta here!"

He sat curled up for a couple of minutes, shivering and whimpering before his good ole Kimble sense kicked in. He was breaking down, that was obvious, and he had to do something about it fast. What worked best, huh? A nice good tumble, but he knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Not with the crew on board now. He considered jerking off, but sex alone had never meant anything to him. He had to have the heat of another body and the rushing whisper of their heart beating in his mind to satisfy him. Anything else was an empty waste of time. He thought briefly of Seth and Fallen and laughed a little at the image of their happy lovemaking. He wondered if Seth had heard her heartbeat. That was the very best part of making love. That and when the love would come blasting into him like a giant wave of heat and pleasure. He would have to tease Seth about it later.

In the meantime, he had to do something to get his mind off all of this. If he couldn't fuck he would have to do something else. He had to play. But play what? He looked around him with tear streaked eyes and saw the guitar collecting dust up high on the next rack. That was it. He would play. Relax. Have fun. Tell Zander to take a hike. He was stronger than that.

He stood up quickly and snatched the guitar, leaving the swords behind. He grasped the instrument like a talisman and fled out into the shop, snagging a bottle of whiskey as well. He could do this. He grabbed a stool and the jar of cigarettes. He would play and have fun. He was going to forget Zander and forget about the blood if he had to play all fucking night.


	9. Chapter 9

(Nine)

The song ended and Kimble started it over again. He let it play a few seconds, then shut it off, taking a moment to copy a few of the notes on the guitar. It took a few tries, but he got it. He smiled, pleased with himself. He felt much better now, this distraction the perfect thing to ease his mind. The pain had stayed away and he was himself again. He started the music back up on the computer and shut it off after listening for another minute. He copied some more notes, mimicking them exactly. Satisfied now, he started the song again, playing along perfectly. It was the same as the line dancing, his perfect memory making this look easy. The song was accompanied by voice and when the singer started, Kimble joined in. He was a decent singer as every Courtesan should be, but his voice was still growly and low. He tried to hit a high note and his voice broke. He snorted laughter at that, shaking his head with amusement at himself. He heard Fallen laugh behind him and turned to look at her.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted with a grin.

"I was wondering when you were going to drag that out," she said entering the room.

He sniffed at her as she approached, his grin growing wider with secret knowledge. He couldn't hide the fact that he knew what had passed between her and Seth as he asked, "Sleep well? Have happy dreams?"

"Actually, yes," she replied, blushing a little.

"Good." He laughed again and played some more. In classic Eddie Van Halen fashion, he took his cigarette and stuck it on the end of one of the guitar strings to keep the smoke from his eyes.

"Did you know what would happen?" Fallen asked.

"Nope. I wuz more concerned 'bout feelin' my face again."

"Why do you antagonize Logan like that? He doesn't seem to like you much."

"Feelin's mutual. You guys're all worried 'bout me? That guy's got a serious case of anal retention, I swear. He needs ta lighten up."

"Maybe he just needs to get laid. I'm sure he could use the release," Fallen suggested.

"While I'm sure he'd be entertainin', he ain't my really my type. Now the Cajun, he's kinda pretty," he teased, looking past Fallen to the hallway.

Fallen was surprised by Kimble's response. That wasn't quite what she'd meant, but Kimble seemed to take it seriously. It was Gambit he'd been teasing, not her. She turned to watch as Gambit and Logan strolled in.

"I appreciate de offer," Remy said with a teasing smile to match Kimble's. "But I like 'em a little more hairy." He hooked a playful arm around Logan's shoulders and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"An' female last I checked," Logan grumbled good naturedly as he shoved Remy away.

"Really?" Kimble said strangely.

Remy was about to make a comment about the certainty of his sexual orientation when Kimble did an odd thing. He closed his eyes and shuddered, shifting his outward appearance to that of a beautiful blonde haired woman --- nude, of course.

Logan coughed in surprise and laughed.

Remy stood still, stunned.

The young lady plucked the cigarette from the guitar and placed the instrument carefully on the floor, leaning it against her knees. She put her hands behind her head and arched her back, spreading her legs open for him. **_"You want to come over here and sit on my lap?" _**she purred seductively at him in perfect French. The voice was as beautiful as the woman, soft and silky smooth. **_"I promise I'll still respect you in the morning." _**

Gambit strolled over, intrigued by the skin change. He circled the stool, inspecting her as she preened for him, looking to see if this illusion was as real as Kimble's other skin. She really was gorgeous, well within his range of attraction. He grinned helplessly as Kimble tried to seduce him with her eyes and subtle movements of her body. The Siskan was trying very hard and doing very well. Remy could see how someone else might be easily tempted by her, but he'd had too much training to fall for it. Plus his heart belonged to another.

Kimble took a deep drag from the cigarette and made perfect smoke rings from her open mouth, winking at him suggestively. Remy just shook his head with a grin, not doubting for a moment Kimble could perform to his expectations and then some. He was tempted to touch her and keep the game going, but decided against it, not wanting to tease.

"Mon dieu, Lord have mercy!" Gambit said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head in regret. "Dis is much more like it, oui. But Gambit got commitments elsewhere, mon jolie petite." He hoped his attempt to come off as truly disappointed would be accepted, this was fun and he really had no desire to hurt Kimble's feelings. If he'd been legitimately free, he would have taken Kimble up on it in a heartbeat.

Kimble was surprised by the intensity of his own disappointment at the refusal. Kimble wasn't completely unaware that at least half the reason he liked Remy so much was because he was attracted to the thief and guessed he could be a lot of fun in an intimate situation. Remy was tall and lean, lanky, something Kimble had always found desirable in a man. Gambit like to fool around and play as he did, something that made him all the more appealing. Kimble wanted to look into those ruby red eyes and feel Remy shiver in ecstacy against him and didn't care what skin he had to be in to do it. He wanted to hear Remy laugh right up close and whisper nonsense in that pretty Cajun accent. Kimble wanted to taste him in his mouth and swallow it down, feeling his love burn him with the heat of those gorgeous red eyes.

It wasn't to be. Kimble squashed his frustration as he had with Fallen's before, cursing himself for even starting this. Henry had told him Gambit had a girl and that he loved her dearly. He should never even had gotten his hopes up.

In desperation, Kimble shifted his attention to Logan. Maybe there was an off chance that he would accept. Maybe it would help smooth out the differences between them.

Logan only scowled at him, no longer amused.

Kimble shook his head and morphed back into his pilot skin. "Jeez. Even with a boat full of unattended men, I cain't git laid. What a crime," he complained bitterly. He crushed out his cigarette and lit another, frustrated.

"There's always Valentin," Logan offered with a sneer.

Kimble's eyes turned flinty. "Already been hit t'day. Didn' likes it much," he said icily. He saw Fallen flinch as she remembered Valentin's cruel fists and he felt bad. "Sorry, baby doll. I didn' mean nuthin' by that."

"I know you didn't," she said softly.

"Speakin' of which," Logan said, "How're you speakin' French all of a sudden now?"

Kimble shrugged casually, his eyes down. "The same way Fallen's got 'er music. Cain't speaks it all that much, just what me an' Seth found in some movies."

Logan grunted. "Uh, huh. Yer a regular secret machine, I can see that, bub. You look pretty good fer a guy who had his lights punched, too. You fix that the same way ya changed into a girl?"

"Nope. Fallen took care'a me," Kimble replied without offering details. He picked up the guitar again and played a little without real enthusiasm, what little he had was now gone. He was irritated now and didn't try to hide it.

"How did you change into a girl?" Fallen asked softly.

Kimble kept his eyes down, feeling defensive. He didn't see what the big deal was. "Seth got the skin fer me."

Fallen cocked her head, puzzled by the idea of this. "Why?"

Kimble's eyes flashed up at her in defensive irritation as he explained. "Cuz maybe I don' wants the same thing all the time, baby doll."

Fallen laughed uneasily. Kimble never failed to surprise her. She knew he was flirtatious with everyone, including men, but had no idea he was flirting for real. She supposed she should have guessed that he might have varied tastes, being a pleasure program designed for any user. She was just so used to thinking of him as being male. "How did you change the skin?"

"I gots the user codes, too. Ya know that."

"Well, that was convenient," Logan commented.

"Not really," Fallen cut in. "He always had them. The files he has now are the same one's he's always had when he was in the system."

"Can he look like anyone?"

Kimble was annoyed Logan hadn't addressed him personally, it was like he wasn't even there. He was feeling the strain of this situation and hated how he had to offer excuses for what he thought of as normal. He felt on the spot and cornered. "Nope. Just the skins I got," he answered for her. "Don' worry, furball. I ain't plannin' on lookin' like you anatime soon. Too fuckin' ugly."

"Kimble!" Fallen snapped. These two were going to be a handful.

He just put his head down and listened to Logan grumble.

"You got a mouth on you, son."

Kimble couldn't help but shiver as he recalled the same line come from Valentin.

Logan continued his rant. "You been nuthin' but trouble since I first laid eyes on ya. You got a taste of what that trouble's gonna get ya if ya keep up with your shit. I got plenty more of that for ya , pup, if ya want it, don't you worry." He turned to Fallen. "Time ta think about what yer gonna do with him, darlin'. I mean, just what do ya think he is?" he asked as if Kimble wasn't still sitting there. "Is he a pet, a toy or what? You say he's just like a little kid. Fine then. What do ya do when yer little three year old hits another kid, huh? Ya smack him in the ass. You keep expectin' this one ta act like he's a real adult when he ain't. If he's gonna stay out he's gonna hafta learn about the rules, just like the rest of us. Rule number one...No fightin'. **Period.** I'm all done screwin' around with that shit. I been teachin' Vally, I'll be teachin' yer boy, too. It stops now. School is officially in session an' yer boy's been warned. One more fight an' I'm gonna lock his sorry ass up in a fuckin' box, you can count on it."

Kimble said nothing during Logan's little speech, but he had already begun to tremble with hurt and rage.

Fallen wanted to argue in Kimble's defense, but she knew better. Her arguments were weak and she knew it. She looked into Kimble's hurt and angry eyes. "He's right, Kim. I won't relieve you from Second, you don't deserve it, but I want you stay down here in the lower level until the repairs are done."

Kimble put his head down and swallowed his rage. It went down hard. "Aye, Fallen."

"**_Do this for me, please,"_** she whispered in Siskan. **_"You have to stay out of trouble!" _**

"**_What do ya think I been doin', huh? I ain't the one been screwin' around. Fuck you!"_** he snapped back in the same language and got up. He hadn't meant to be mean, but he was tired and hurt by the suggestion he would be caged. He put the guitar on the bed, no longer interested in playing. All he wanted to do now was get drunk. He snatched the jar of cigarettes and the bottle of whiskey from the floor and started to walk away towards the Engine Room.

Gambit reached out to him. "Espe're. Wait. Don' be walkin' away mad, mon ami." He didn't need to understand Siskan to know what Kimble had said.

Kimble smacked his hand away with the bottle before Remy could touch him. He growled that mean low rumble he'd used with Logan through teeth clenched tight with fury. "You had yer chance. You best be keepin' yer hands to yerself, pretty!"

Remy backed up a bit, rubbing his stinging hand. He wasn't angry by Kimble's actions, only frustrated that he couldn't fix this. Clearly it was Logan Kimble was really pissed at, but he knew his rejection of his offer had hurt the pilot's feelings, too. Again, Remy was amazed at the range of Kimble's emotions. He felt too much and was obviously having a hard time controlling his sensitivity out here. He needed help or he was going to fall even deeper into trouble. Remy wanted to say something to calm Kimble, but figured it would just be a waste of time. Kimble's outraged posture and growl were so creepy combined with his all too real hostility towards everyone. It was clear he was in no mood to listen.

Kimble stalked off to the Engine Room and slammed the door shut. Almost immediately, loud, heavy metal music came on in there. Logan couldn't help but wince. The only thing he hated worse than stupid dance music was that heavy metal crap. Bang your head, indeed. It appealed to his bestial and aggressive nature, but folks just played it too damn loud for his sensitive ears. The walls in the Engine Room were double thick because of the machinery, but he could hear every note. It must be deafening in there.

"That boy's losin it, Fallen. He's got Zander all trapped up inside a him and he's losin' the battle ta keep him down," Logan said as soon as Kimble was gone.

"Don't be stupid. He's not Zander. I don't know why you insist on thinking that."

" 'Cause I've seen inside a him, darlin'. Seen it when he passed right through me. Yer boy's telepathic or somethin'. He's all full of black rage an' hate. He's gonna kill somebody."

"You see what you want to see. You see whatever you need to, to justify the way you treat him."

"That ain't true. Have you even asked him about it?"

"No, I haven't, but he's no killer. He's just burning out. He needs to go back in the system or something, I don't know. Maybe he just needs to jerk off. I can't talk to him when he's like this. He'll calm down in a couple of hours or so."

Gambit was confused by Fallen's sexual comment. Why would a computer program care if it got off or not? He couldn't imagine a hologram jerking itself off, it just didn't seem right somehow. Besides that, he thought she'd taken Kimble for a tumble. If it wasn't him, than who was it?

In answer to his unspoken question, Seth popped up on the screen. "Good morrow, people," he said. He was positively beaming, deliriously happy, and it showed.

Gambit chuckled to himself and shook his head. This was one strange place.

"Good morrow, Seth," Fallen returned. Her smile was just as bright. "**Wasayachay natooroo. Tay kunda Siska esk.**"

"**Wasayachay natooroo. Siska tay kunda.**"

Logan squinted up at Seth. This was just too bizarre for words. Did Seth and Kimble find some way to switch? "You look like the cat who caught his mouse. Got somethin' ya wanna confess?" he asked Seth with a grin.

"Kimble found a way for us to be together," Fallen replied.

"How's that?"

"My power. When he was injured, he took a big draw to repair himself. When he did that, we had a kind of telepathic link --"

"Telepathic," Logan interrupted, repeating her word to show her he'd been right about Kimble.

"Yes. He took me into the system. I don't know how and I can't explain it." She shook her head. "It's fucked up, I know, but it happened. He took me to a strange black room and Seth was there."

"Did Kimble get to watch?" Logan asked, his eyes merry.

"No. He was sleeping. Recovering from his injuries. When he woke up, the link was broken and I woke up back outside."

"So Kimble is telepathic now?" Remy asked, confused. It was hard to keep track of what was going on with Kimble's new abilities. He still didn't quite believe it.

Fallen shook her head and tried to explain, "Not exactly. I think it's only with the ship. He took me inside the computer. If I had to guess, he was using his internal modem to do it, not some funky mutant power. He was talking to Lucky, that's all. I couldn't read his thoughts or anything."

"I did. When he walked through me the last time," Logan said, his eyes growing colder. "He's got Zander inside a him an' he wants ta kill Valentin. I saw Zander's face, or what Kimble thinks it is. All I saw was a shattered mirror, but Kimble knew who it was so I knew who it was."

"That's impossible," Fallen snorted.

"We've been learnin' lately that a lot of impossible things been happenin' around here, darlin'. Sooner you face up to the truth, the safer we'll be. You got some place we can lock Kimble up? Someplace he can't phase out of?"

"I forbid it! He hasn't hurt anyone, I won't punish him for something he hasn't done!"

"We have to play the memory files," Seth said quietly. His earlier happiness was gone. Now he just looked scared. "I think it all has to do with them. They may not even be his files. Maybe somebody put the wrong ones in when he was damaged and he can't handle what he sees."

"How do we play the files?"

"I don't know. Kimble has total control over them. I can't get to them at all."

"Can you talk to him about it?"

"I can try," Seth offered and the screen blinked out. He'd gone to the Engine Room.


	10. Chapter 10

(Ten)

Bruce sat on his bed in the barracks. Valentin, the boss, was opposite him. They were playing cards as they continued to block Joseph from the viewing screen in case Seth came back. Valentin's Second was crouched down on the floor, working on the next bed. He was exhausted and in a great deal of pain from all of his efforts, the longer he kept doing this, the weaker his power was becoming. He needed badly to rest. He cursed softly as his nose began to bleed again, this was the third bad nosebleed he'd had in two hour's time. He stood and staggered awkwardly into the lav, cupping his chin in his hands.

Valentin played his hand and watched Joseph leave without rising. He knew his man was exhausted, but also that his loyalty wasn't in question. Joseph would keep at it until he dropped. Valentin looked across his cards to Bruce.

Bruce had been quiet and lost in his own thoughts the whole time they'd been stuck in here. He spent a lot of time in the lav, showering as an excuse to hide. The fact was he missed Justin horribly and couldn't stop himself from crying from the loss. Justin had been at his side for as long as he cared to remember and now he was confused and all alone without his brave protector here. He wasn't sure of what was going on or who he should trust. The transition from Cerise to this vessel had been a jarring drop into a hole, he had no idea what to think or to feel.

He was afraid.

The cause of that fear? He was grimly fascinated with Kimble, had been so ever since he'd laid eyes on him in the cage. Bruce found himself lingering by the door of their room, watching the pilot's every move. He was certain that Kimble had once been Zander and was nervous about it, but he couldn't be sure. The pilot skin was so different than his vague memory of Zander all those years ago. Either way, both men had been beautiful, alluring in a way that even now Bruce didn't understand. It was as if the Siskan was some kind of strange magnet, drawing him near every time he heard that strange unforgettable voice.

Bruce had cringed during Kimble's vicious beating, it was worse than anything Valentin had ever dished out to him. Bruce was surprised when the Siskan didn't explode into violence in his own defense, killing everyone on board. Maybe Kimble would break down as Zander had, maybe not. Bruce had no desire to be around when he did.

Valentin was unaware of Bruce's fascination with Kimble, but his grief over Justin was palatable, it was etched on the man's face. It disgusted Valentin, he saw it as a weakness. Homosexuals in general revolted him, he just couldn't understand the appeal of one man fucking another in the ass, emasculating one another. Just the thought of it made him shiver and gag. It was true he really didn't know Bruce that well, but he needed him all the same if they were to escape. He had to be sure of this man's loyalty.

"Are you with us on this?" Valentin asked, meaning their plan to escape.

Bruce jumped at the sound of his Master's voice. "Oh? Yes. Yes, of course I am, sir."

"If you wuss out on us again... I will kill you myself. Are we clear?"

"Um. Yes. We're clear, sir." Bruce looked up at his Master. Valentin's broken nose made him seem that much more dangerous, like an escaped criminal rather than a brave warrior. There was a hint of madness in those eyes.

"Good. I'm counting on you."

Joseph returned from the lav, pale and trembling. He knelt down in front of Valentin, his face white as a ghost. "My Lord?"

"Yes?"

"I must rest. I'll finish as soon as I can, sir, but..." he paused as he blacked out and swayed to one side, collapsing with a groan.

Valentin cursed softly and caught him as he fell, spilling cards all over the floor. He continued to growl with impatience. He knew Joseph had been performing above and beyond his expectations, but he was unhappy with how long this was taking. He wanted out now. He hauled Joe up onto the next bed and covered him up.

"Is he going to be all right, my Lord?" Bruce asked, his eyes full of concern. It sickened him how Joseph was killing himself for Valentin.

"He'll be fine. He just needs to sleep. At least he's trying. What have you done for us?"

Bruce just put his head down and was quiet. He waited a moment, but Valentin had lost interest in the game. He got up and resumed his position in the doorway again. He could hear the loud heavy metal music coming up from the floor. He'd been a Clansman all his life and had never heard music such as this. It was so angry and full of pain. He wondered if it was Kimble playing it. He wondered a lot of things about Kimble now.


	11. Chapter 11

(Eleven)

Seth popped up on the viewing screen in the Engine Room.

Kimble sat on the floor of the Engine Room, in the middle of the telekinetic blast circle he'd created earlier. If he'd been surprised to see it, he gave no sign. He had opened the bottle of whiskey and gulped a quarter of it down in his haste to get as drunk as possible. It had been a really long time since he'd been drunk and he hadn't remembered that a little went a long way. His head was buzzing now and he was dizzy from having drunk the whiskey so fast. His face was flushed and his vision a little blurry, but he was well past the point of caring. He felt a little sick, knowing it was too late to do anything about it now.

"You okay?" Seth asked.

The music was deafening, but Kimble still heard Seth's voice from inside his own head, a gift from his telepathic connection with the ship. He deliberately ignored his brother and drank from the bottle again. He was pissed off and generally put out over everything that had happened, he wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"Kimble!" Seth snapped. He turned the volume down on the music.

Kimble rolled his eyes up at him angrily. "What!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nuthin'." Kimble's voice was already slurring. He'd gone from merely buzzed to quite plastered very quickly. His eyes were already growing heavy and he didn't know how much longer he would stay awake. "Goes away an' leaves me 'lone!"

"Are you mad about me and Fallen?"

Kimble shook his head. He wasn't angry at Seth, just upset at all of the shit coming his way. "Nope. I'm real happy fer th' two a youz, really. Leas' sumbodyz gittin' sumpthin' round here. Didj'all have a real good time, huh?"

"Yes, it was great. I don't have the words to describe it," Seth stammered lamely. Was Kimble jealous?

"Don' hafta. I knowz it well enough. Didja feel 'er heart beatin'? Thaz the' best part, man. When ya kin feelz 'em alla round ya...luvin' ya...makin' ya all warm inside. Damn... I miss that more'n anathin'..." Kimble shook a little as a tear dribbled down one cheek. He wiped it away impatiently. He was really hammered now and his emotions beyond his control, he wanted to cry, sob away his anger like a child.

"What's wrong with you, Kimble?" Seth repeated, his concern all too real. He just wasn't used to seeing Kimble fall apart like this.

"Logan'z gonna put me inna box!" Kimble bawled in a loud complaint, spitting as he spoke. He drank from the bottle again, no longer caring anymore how drunk he was. He just wanted to blot everything out. "I won' go! He cain' makes me! I been inna box b'fore. Theyz putcha there b'fore they killz ya. I won' go. Not withouts a fight!"

"What are you talking about? Nobody's going to kill you. Fallen won't let them."

"She cain' stops 'em if theyz really wanna to. She ain't that strong."

"What's with you? You're the one who's usually telling me not to worry."

"Maybe youz jus' don' knows me so well az ya thoughtcha did," Kimble said sadly, his voice dropping as he was hit with a wave of fear.

"Kimble...are you Zander?"

Kimble put his head down as the tears came back again. "I don' know... Maybe... I think so... I don' know!----I don' wanna be!" He finally broke down and sobbed.

Seth was badly frightened now. "Come to the Black Room," he whispered.

"No...It ain't safe ta be round me..." He turned his head away from his brother, not wanting Seth to see his face all red and tear streaked. "What am I gonna do...?"

"Come to the Black Room, please."

Kimble wiped his face with his hands. A wasted effort, he was a mess. "Why?"

"Because you shouldn't be alone. Come play chess with me."

"I'm too drunk ta play chessz."

Seth laughed. "Good. Then I'll win for once. C'mon."

Kimble nodded and grew still as he sent his mind out along the invisible connection between himself and Lucky. Seth shut the music off, the silence was almost deafening after all of the noise.

Fallen was still in the shop when it went suddenly quiet in the Engine Room. She abruptly left Gambit and Logan and went to check on Kimble. She propped open the door and went over to the circle where he was sitting. She gasped in surprise, recognizing a telekinetic blast pattern as easily as the X-men.

"Kimble?" she called out, but he was perfectly still. She crouched down next him, concerned by his stillness, he was like a strange alabaster statue dressed in black denim. She had never seen him frozen like this when his mind was back in the ship and it was completely creepy, not something she was used to thinking of with her dear friend. She was even more worried when she saw how much he'd drunk. She knew Kimble liked the taste of whiskey, but had never watched him get this drunk. As Captain and his Mistress, she wouldn't have allowed it. She regretted now that she let him take the bottle.

Gambit leaned in the open doorway. From here he could smell the whiskey and he knew Kimble must be wasted. "He gone, chere. Let de boy sleep it off."

"Seth?" Fallen said loudly, seeking her lover out with her voice. She wished she could reach out to him telepathically without Kimble's assistance, it would make this so much easier.

Seth came up on the screen, reacting quickly to her call. He wasn't in the control room, he was sitting in the circle of light from the Black Room. It was the first time Fallen had seen the room from the screen but she recognized it well enough. Seth sat in front of a chessboard, his brother lay passed out across the board among the toppled pieces. They'd only played a couple of moves before he went down.

Seth had his hands on Kimble's head, petting him gently as he snored. "He's okay," Seth whispered reassuringly, the words coming out stiffly like a well rehearsed mantra. Fallen wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, he sounded so terribly sad. "I'll stay here with him. He'd do it for me."

"Did you speak with him?"

Seth nodded slowly. He surprised her by saying in his dull flat voice, "I don't think it's worth it to come out, Fallen. I've never seen him like this."

"What about us, Seth? Didn't you think that was worth it?" Her voice trembled as she spoke. She didn't like where Seth was headed.

"It isn't worth it if everybody hates you." The sadness of his voice cut into her.

"Nobody hates Kimble," she insisted, pleading for him to believe.

Seth did not. "Logan does. He wants to put Kimble in a box," he replied, still not quite sure what Kimble meant, only know that it was something bad.

Remy shifted uncomfortably, feeling Logan standing behind him. The emotions here were strong, the strongest ones by far being projected by creatures supposedly less than real. Maybe Logan would be upset by these words, if he was, then it would only mean that his teammate finally saw the truth of this situation. These Siskans were no simple program. They were real and needed to be dealt with as such, with understanding and not just barked orders and demands.

"Logan's just a paranoid old man with too much time on his hands!" Fallen snapped bitterly, furious at Logan now.

Seth's voice broke, just in time for a tear to come tumbling down his cheek. "Kimble is a lot stronger than I am. If Kimble can't deal with Logan...with everything that's going on with him...how am I supposed to? What's it going to be like for me? I don't think I can do this, Fallen." He was so horribly sad and looked as if he'd given up all hope.

"Don't you bail on me, Seth! I need you, you hear me?" Fallen said loudly, rising. "I have had enough of all this, I swear it! We're getting out of here, now. I'll fix this damn ship and get us home if it kills me! I won't lose Kimble and I won't lose you to this madness!" She started to pick up the parts strewn about her as she began to cry. "I'll fix all of this!"

Remy came in the room, instantly trying to make peace and defuse the situation. "Paisible maintenant, Fallen, take it easy, chere. Let us 'elp you, d'accorde? You can't do it alone."

"No! You've all done quite enough already! Get out!" she said, her wet eyes blazing.

He backed up, already moving on to plan B. "Let me get 'Enry? He can 'elp you fix dis, eh? Just till Kimble wakes up."

Fallen calmed a little, easily soothed by Remy's agreeable intentions. He was not fighting her, only honestly trying to help. "All right." She glared at Logan and ordered, "But I want you gone, you hairy little asshole, you hear me? Kimble stays down here, you stay up there. That's final!"

Logan didn't reply but walked off, going up the stairs quickly.

Gambit left and Henry came down a few minutes later. Fallen had set up the parts both on the floor and on the workbench. She was using her telekinesis to move everything around, lightening the work load and speeding up the time. He was amused to see different pieces floating around here and there. She had skillfully cleaned up Kimble's mess and was organized and ready.

Kimble himself still sat in his frozen position, his head down. Fallen had removed the bottle from next to him not wanting him to wake and drink some more.

Henry approached Fallen at the workbench carefully, Remy had warned him that her mood was less than peaceful. She gave him a wan little smile and handed him something to work on. They worked for a few moments in comfortable silence when Kimble shuddered and snorted from his position on the floor. He grumbled something with a laugh and fell over, still quite drunk.

Fallen went to him and kicked him gently. "Hey, you bum," she teased, unable to hide the affection there for him.

Kimble rolled onto his back and garbled something unintelligible up at her. He rubbed his hands over his face and messed up his hair, sloppy drunk and playful. He was feeling better after having visited Seth and had slept off the worst of his sadness. Now he was feeling silly and frisky with Fallen so close. He was dizzy and giddy, liking the way his hands felt on his skin.

Henry snickered from just behind her. "I see the drink hasn't improved his voice."

Fallen crouched down and smoothed Kimble's hair back. "You are such a child," she teased affectionately, looking into his half open eyes. This was so much better than the angry Kimble she'd been seeing these past days, this was him more like his old self. She tickled him just for fun and he giggled, curling up a little. Not too much, though. He felt cute and wanted her to play with him.

She tickled him again and he laughed. "Hey, whaz th' big idear, huh? I wuz tryin's ta sleep!"

"Um hmm, right," she said, tickling him some more.

Having had a rough day, Kimble's power had waned and now his skin glowed a faint blue wherever she touched him, he was taking small mounts of Ristle from the contact. He giggled and squirmed, not even trying to move away from her. He was enjoying this immensely. He could feel her love for him trickling in with the Ristle and it was wonderful, making it easy to pretend none of this was happening and it was just the two of them here, friends just like always.

Fallen backed off, letting him catch his breath. "You gonna get up and help us?"

"Nope," Kimble said, smiling. "Too drunk ta do nuthin'. Well...almost anathin'. Maybe youz kin azk Remy if he'z change' hisz mind, huh?"

Fallen chuckled. "I think you blew that one my dear. Nice try."

"Seth worked real hard ta find that skin, too. What a waste..." Kimble's eyes grew heavy and he yawned, the Ristle he'd taken in combined with the alcohol was making him sleepy again

Fallen could see she was losing him. "Maybe you'd best sleep this off, my dear."

Kimble mumbled something in reply but had already fallen back asleep. She sat next to him for a minute, getting up when he started to snore. She went into the shop and grabbed a blanket to toss over him, tucking it in around him for warmth. She started some soft music playing to cover his racket, then smiled at Henry and they went back to work.


	12. Chapter 12

(Twelve)

Remy left the galley, awkwardly carrying a loaded try of food in one hand, some bottles of beer in his other, it was time to feed the Clansmen. He made his way clumsily to the barracks door, using all of his skills to balance his load without dropping it. As he approached the door to the barracks, Gambit noticed Logan sitting in the last row of seats, far away from everybody and everything. He was smoking and staring off into space, his body eerily still. He had sat there as soon as he'd come up from below and not moved since. Gambit paused, trying not to spill anything. "You need anyt'ing, mon ami?" he asked carefully, sensing Logan's ill humor.

"I'm fine," Logan replied, his voice cold and even.

Remy kept going. He hadn't been on the team as long as some of the others, but he knew when to leave Logan alone having seen the man's temper at work before. Gambit hoped that Logan wasn't going to have one of his 'spells'. The timing couldn't be worse.

Every so often, Wolverine would sink into a dark, murderous melancholy. His time spent with the X-men had helped him considerably, but the spells still occurred. He would grow steadily quiet and not speak to anyone except to snap and growl at you for no apparent reason. Anything would set him off and he'd yell and break things. People at the mansion had learned to avoid him when he was like this. Sometimes, if it was really bad, he'd carve up dead trees off in the woods, viciously shredding them down to nothing with his claws, not caring that he busted up his hands in the process, they would just heal anyway.

Wolverine would sometimes wake up yelling in the night with his bed sheets ripped to pieces. Like his clothes, Logan's furniture and bedding never had much of a chance to get old or worn out. His temperament and lifestyle just didn't allow for it. Later he'd go on a two or three day drinking binge and then disappear for a few days. He'd come back all smoothed out and no one questioned him about it. He was very reliable and had proved his worth as an X-man time and time again, enough that his mood swings were simply accepted and dealt with.

Back home, Nightcrawler had been working closely with Logan and his efforts had helped. They could really use that priestly X-man's help right about now, but that of course, was impossible. Wolverine hadn't had one of his bad turns in quite some time, so Remy figured Logan was due at any time. Most of the time, just keeping Logan busy held the spells at bay. With all this hanging around bored and vicious in-fighting, Gambit was justifiably concerned that Fallen's outburst had bothered Logan enough to send him off onto the dark path.

Gambit set the tray down in front of the barracks door. "Chow time, dogs." he said with a short laugh. He deactivated the light screen warily, his eyes on all the men and a pack of loose cards ready in his pocket. So far there had been no trouble at feeding time, but he wasn't about to take any chances. He slid the tray and bottles through and reactivated the screen.

Remy backed up and watched as Valentin and Bruce came to the door to take the tray and distribute the food. He'd brought them pre-packaged meals because they came in their own boxes and were easier to carry and hand out.

Joseph sat up on his bed, woozy and still a little out of it. He rubbed his eyes and belched with a groan, rubbing his stomach and grimacing. He'd swallowed a lot of blood from his nosebleeds and it was making him nauseous. He felt like shit and it showed. He wondered if he was going to have the strength to do what Valentin had asked of him.

Gambit noticed Joseph was looking a little out of sorts. "Sumptin wrong wit dat one, ey? 'E ain't lookin' so good."

"Perhaps your cooking doesn't agree with him," Valentin sneered.

"Well, dat's no worry. Fallen's fixin' de ship. Won' be long now."

Gambit walked away and let them eat, Joseph already forgotten. He was more concerned about Logan sitting off by himself like that. He'd leaned his head back against the wall and looked as though he might be falling asleep. That was good. Maybe Logan was just tired and would feel better when he woke up.

Remy went back to the galley and resumed the poker game he'd started with Maylee. She'd been left all alone with everything going on and Gambit was trying to keep her company. She was getting quite good at the game now, she'd already taken a good amount of the Clan credits he was using as a pot. She was a good kid and he felt a little sorry for her having gotten caught up in this mess.

Like Kimble, Remy felt very comfortable taking care of others. At an early age, he'd had the good fortune to be adopted by Jean Luc LeBeau. Jean Luc was a master thief and the head of a small New Orleans organized crime family called the Thieves' Guild. He taught Remy all the thieving skills he currently possessed, but also instilled in him a real sense of family. Even after the family feud that had driven him out, Remy was eventually taken back after his disappearance from Antarctica. He'd been missed and the Guild took care of its own.

Remy had grown up with the large Guild families and never missed the real parents he had never known. He loved children and being around large groups of people, especially parties with dancing and lots of pretty girls around. He was off and on with Rogue, their tempestuous relationship wasn't always stable. They would break up for short periods of time only to get back together again. He loved her fiercely and was loyal to her when they were together. He didn't stray, but that didn't mean he'd turn down a pretty girl's offer to dance. When they were off, well, Remy was known to be a little loose and free with the women, playful and free, but never letting anyone get too close. Rogue had always taken him back and he wasn't going to start anything he wasn't going to finish. His heart belonged to her.

Remy never failed to jump in when he was needed to take care of people, especially children and old folks, those too helpless to handle the situations they found themselves in. They brought out the latent hero in him, the good side he and the Professor had fought so hard to preserve. While Logan was a protector, Gambit was a nurturer. He was sitting here now with Maylee, keeping her company and flirting with her a little, just enough to make her laugh and feel comfortable. He still had one eye on the galley door, keeping watch on the barracks, but still enjoying the card game. With all the instability on this ship, Gambit was happy just to have something to do.

He groaned in mock dismay as Maylee won the next hand as well. She grinned broadly and swept her winnings into her already huge pile. Remy hoped Fallen would get things back up and running soon. It just wouldn't do to have Maylee continuously winning his money like this. He had a reputation to protect.

Maylee grinned. "I win again!"

"All right, all right," Remy said, grinning with her infectious happiness. "Maybe we try a new game, eh?" He shuffled the cards and explained the next game, losing time in play. In a situation like this, time was slippery and had a way of getting way from him. Not that he minded, at least somebody was having fun.


	13. Chapter 13

(Thirteen)

A couple of hours later, Kimble woke slowly. His whole head was in a total fog and he groaned. He'd forgotten the golden rule -- "With every good time comes a price". He was hung over badly. Fallen was sitting next to him on the floor, working on one of the larger components. She was lost in thought, working rapidly. He could tell by what she was working on that the repairs would be done soon. The real question was when would her levels be high enough for her to power the ship and get them home.

He rose up slowly and leaned against her. He put his head on her shoulder, hiccuped and groaned again. He rubbed his belly and burped, not being very quiet about it.

"Ugh, you stink!" Fallen complained. Kimble never really had a smell...until now. He reeked of stale whiskey and cigarettes.

"Too fucked up ta stink..." he grumbled cheerfully, feeling better now. His eyes drooped a little and he looked like he might nod off again.

She nudged him. "Wrong! Don't get too comfortable there, buddy. Go have a shower and come back and help us."

He got up slowly, obeying his Mistress, and shuffled off. He was quite a sight with his hair all tangled and sticking up everywhere. He met Gambit in the doorway of the small downstairs lav. The thief had just showered and was on his way out. He was only half dressed and had his shirt over one arm.

Remy whistled at him. "Oh well now, looky 'ere. Ain't dis special. Gambit seen prettier piles of dog shit, mon ami." He opened the door a little wider and waved Kimble in. "Dis way, eh?"

Kimble smiled sheepishly up at him. He could tell that Remy wasn't mad at him for hitting him with the bottle earlier and he was relieved. Of all the men on board, Kimble was developing a special affinity for this one and would have regretted the loss of friendship over something stupid.

Kimble slowly passed him by as he entered the lav, looking over Remy's bare chest with an appreciative grin. Kimble thought the X-man was well built and pretty and didn't try to hide it. Without his shirt, Remy provided Kimble with a nice view. He was lean and cut and had only just a soft light covering of chest hair, still slightly damp from the shower. Kimble had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him, but Remy had made it clear he wouldn't be interested. At least, not yet.

As he walked by, Kimble saw something on his new friend that he'd missed. Remy had five large scars racing thick and silver across his chest and down to his lower belly. At some point long ago, Gambit had been severely clawed by something. It had been a significant injury and Kimble knew enough to understand that Remy must have been close to death at the time. It made the Siskan curious about the adventures of his strange new friend, but he didn't ask. He wanted to play and didn't want to ruin the mood by asking a serious question.

Gambit took Kimble's leering at him in stride like he did everything else, even though he was unused to a man looking at him that way. It didn't creep him out at all, he thought it was hilarious and it just made him laugh. "Don' even t'ink about it, cher, 'specially not in your condition."

"Dinner an' a movie, right?" Kimble mumbled cheerfully.

"Oui, you got dat right. 'Cept for you, you gonna need a shave an a real dark room, man. Dose whiskers!" Remy teased, shivering with mock revulsion.

"Might feel real nice between yer legs, never know?" Kimble teased back, wanting only to shock him and make him laugh. He loved the sound of Remy's laugh, it was so endearing and easily come by. He was rewarded when Gambit flushed madly and beat a hasty retreat down the hall, the first giggles already leaking out.

Remy laughed as he backed away. "Gambit's pretty quick! Gonna 'ave to catch him first!"

"Is that a challenge?" Kimble asked, still wanting to play. "I jus' loves a challenge."

"Me an' my big mouth! Rogue always sayin' it's gonna get me in trouble!"

"I kin thinks of a real good way ta keep that mouth of yers real nice an' quiet, huh?" Kimble said suggestively, reaching for his belt buckle. "Wanna see if Gambit's brave enough ta swallow?"

Gambit burst into startled, embarrassed laughter and covered his ears as he next began singing loudly to cover up whatever Kimble might have to say next. His laughter was heartfelt and wild, he kept screwing up the words to his impromptu little song he walked away. He turned backwards so he could see Kimble's amused expression, enjoying the game as much as the Siskan did.

Kimble just shook his head his head, watching him leave. "Don' be trippin' up them stairs, now. Might force me ta catch ya an' then where would we be? Folks'll talk."

"Hey, you two," Fallen said with a laugh, poking her head out of the Engine Room. She'd heard their noise and was pleased to see someone was happy around here. "Some of us are trying to work!"

"Me, too, darlin'. Me too," Kimble snickered and disappeared into the lav.


	14. Chapter 14

(Fourteen)

Joseph was feeling better after his rest and a meal. He was making good progress. He'd gotten six of the bed legs loose and now leaned in the doorway, trying to look casual as he mentally fiddled with the screws holding the security screen in place. They weren't in very tightly. They were on the opposite side of the screen and Kimble hadn't thought the Clan could get to them. Seth had been very quiet. He hadn't popped up in a long while and so Joe had grown bolder with his power. It wouldn't be long now.

Valentin and Bruce had a couple of the bed legs with them in the lav. They'd found a box of razor blades in there and they were working them into the legs along a seam where the metal had been folded together. Joseph had been able to use his power to bend a couple more legs into a point. They wouldn't cut, but could be used to stab. With the weapons in place, it would only be a couple short hours before the light strip was down and they could attempt to break free.

Valentin vowed that he would take this ship back under his control and Fallen as well. His first order of business would be to kill those meddlesome X-men. He'd had quite enough of them. Then he would take his fun with Kimble, killing him a slice at a time. No pleasure would match the sound of that freak's howling in his ears. Oh yes, he would have such fun indeed.

To be continued in Through the Looking Glass.


End file.
